


Crystal Time

by MissPerla09



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anime, Comedy, F/M, Fantasy, Friendship, Haruka - Freeform, Idol Life, Love Story, Starish - Freeform, Tragedy, UtaNoPrinceSama, Utapri - Freeform, family conflicts, high school life, return to the past, shoujoromance, tokiya - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-12-31 23:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 120,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12143652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissPerla09/pseuds/MissPerla09
Summary: Her husband, Ichinose Tokiya left her in devastation. He protected Haruka from her lunatic fan till his last breath. Yet, when she stood a chance to return to the past, together with her supportive friends in order to meet him again, the truth found its way to be revealed. She could start over with Tokiya but there was more than she could imagine.CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiii. Nice to be in this fandom together with you guys. I started to follow Utapri since last year and I must say, I reaaaalllly love all the characters and music in this anime. I also love writing since I was small and this story is supposed to be about my original characters but since Tokiya/Haruka is one of my favourite pairs, I was thinking 'why don't I make them the characters for this story?' So, here is the first chapter and my first try in fanfiction writing. Reviews from you guys can help me writing much better stories. English is not my first language so sorry for any grammatical errors.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nightmare...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii. Nice to be in this fandom together with you guys. I started to follow Utapri since last year and I must say, I reaaaalllly love all the characters and music in this anime. I love writing since I was small and this story is supposed to be about my original characters but since Tokiya/Haruka is one of my favorite pairs, I was thinking 'why don't I make them the characters for this story?' So, here is the first chapter and my first try in fanfiction writing. Reviews from you guys can help me writing much better stories. English is not my first language so sorry for any grammatical errors.

**_'Please_ ** _take care of Haruka.'_

Tokiya pressed the 'send' button after typing a message to his friends. He sighed deeply as he recalled what happened to him this evening before he came home.

He just had a fight. Not just a regular fight with a random or unimportant person but a sudden and tense fight with Syo. It all started when he overheard a quarrel between the said STARISH member and his partner in Shining headquarters.

"Fine! Let's break up if you love Ichinose-san's wife that much!"

The said partner which is also an idol yelled in extreme anger before storming away from the scene. Tokiya tried to comfort his friend when at the same time, he wanted to confront about the fact that the used-to-be hot couple among idols eventually broke up was because of his wife, Haruka but...

Much to the blue-haired idol's dismay, that friend of him suddenly lashed out at him, which led the blue head to believe the possibility that all this time, not all STARISH members were sincerely happy for his marriage with Haruka, their precious composer.

He was too naïve about their true feelings.

"Yes, I broke up with that girl because I still love Nanami! And I bet it's not just me but the reason why the others also have a problem in their love life because they still cannot forget Nanami! Satisfied!? But I bet you don't even care about this, Tokiya. You have Nanami as your wife and that's all matters. To be honest, we still don't understand why Nanami chose you. Just because you are cool, you are like her so-called a knight in shining armor, you can sing, you are good at everything you do, she ended up choosing you. If you ask me, Otoya suits her three times better than you! Now, stay away from me! I don't want to see your face!"

Rather than feeling the urge to punch Syo straight to his face for being that rude, deep inside the heart of the vocalist, he could not agree more to the violinist's statement.

Until now, even after two years since he married Haruka, Tokiya still could not believe that she chose him when he believed that he was the one who had almost zero chance to win the composer's heart.

Does Syo hate me now? He thought miserably. He knew too much about the pink idol's temper. The Prince of Fighting cast had a temper issue to the point of he blurted out something that he did not mean to say. Maybe he was just too stressed out because of his love to Haruka and bumping into Tokiya just made him feeling more terrible because apparently, anybody in his situation would never want Tokiya, out of people in the world to know about his feeling to the blue head's wife.

Maybe I should just apologize to him tomorrow. But... another thought which haunted him quite some times now appeared, caused him to sigh heavily. In the end, he decided to just forget about the conflict just for tonight before heading to his shared bedroom with Haruka.

Meanwhile, Haruka's eyes stared deep at her image in the mirror while smiling brightly. The white dress with small golden flowers pattern on her chest part made her looked more stunning than usual, thanks to her husband who gave it to her as a present. Today was her birthday and Tokiya had promised to take her somewhere special.

Haruka was so ecstatic about tonight. They both were hectic with their endless workloads yet luckily enough, they both had a day off tonight to spend together.

Apart from getting exhilarated about what Tokiya had planned for her, she, in fact, had her own surprise for him. She stroked her tummy lovingly while imagining all sorts of Tokiya's reaction after learning about the good news...

She was currently pregnant with their child. Someone that they were long-awaited.

All of sudden, she could feel a pair of muscular arms embraced her back. Panic totally surrounded her as she quickly put her hand away from her stomach, getting worried if Tokiya would get suspicious of her clichéd gesture which you could only get from a pregnant lady.

"You look so beautiful, Haruka," his sweet voice which was never tired of praising her sent her face blushing. A few years had passed but the fact that she has always being stunned by Tokiya's voice has never changed. "How I wish I can look at my wife like this just for a bit longer... or maybe for a couple days more..."

Haruka's expression turned puzzled. She turned her head so that her eyes could meet his.

"What do you mean?"

Tokiya chuckled, amused by her confused look. However, he did not feel like answering her. Instead, he tightened his embrace, indicating his unconditional love for her.

"By the way, Haruka, is there something bothering you lately? Or rather, something that you keep as a secret?"

"A.. a secret?" her face turned a bit pale before struggling to get calm again. "No.. I am not. Why should I keep a secret from you? You're my husband, of course, I will tell you everything if they really bother me."

"Yeah, you're right," Tokiya pulled away from his hug but his chummy and sweet smile was still the same. For some reasons, his mesmerizing blue eyes looked a lot more loving than usual. "I don't know. It's just that... You have been spaced out a lot these days. I was wondering if I am the one who made you...."

"No, Tokiya-kun.. Don't say like that..." she quickly caressed his cheek, trying to convince him.

Well, yeah, I have been spaced out a lot because of you but not in a bad way. In fact, I am so excited to let you know that we are expecting a child, Haruka controlled her thin lips from forming a smile again. It was not the right time for Tokiya, her beloved husband to know.

Only a few hours left and you will know. But, ahh, I really can't wait to tell you tonight.

"In fact, I am so happy to be your wife. Never once in my life, I felt regretful to fall in love with you.."

"Is that so?" the usually cool face of Tokiya curved a small smile. He grabbed both her tiny hands before kissing them.

"Yes," she smiled contentedly when his lips touched her hands until she realized something strange.

Somehow, the long kiss didn't feel right for Haruka. Yes, it was affectionate as usual but...

Words could not describe how odd she felt right now as the lips of her husband still touched her hands.

Now, she felt that Tokiya was keeping a secret from her as well.

"If that's the case, I would like to apologize if I cannot be a perfect husband for you. You know, after my parents got divorced and my mother finally left me, I lived my life alone. It did feel lonely but I didn't have any choice. Singing is the only thing I have and I needed to strive for that. That's when I met you and only God knows how grateful I am when you chose me at last. Thank you so much, Ichinose Haruka. Thank you so much for being an amazing wife for me. I love you and I always do."

Her golden eyes slowly fulfilled with tears but she did not want to be a wet blanket for their moments. Both of them were supposed to have a date tonight.

Yet, each of his words sounded too heart-breaking. Yes, it was a beautiful confession and not everyone could be as lucky as her but like the kiss on her hands, those words did not sound right in her ears.

In fact, it sounded like a farewell.

"I love you too," her voice broke a bit yet she felt more broken as his facial expression changed a bit.

It looked genuinely happy. Just like when she confessed her love to him for the first time.

"Thank you, Haruka. It means a lot to me.." He pulled her into his hug before kissing his forehead softly.

Another word from him and I will burst into tears. No, I can't ruin the moment. Slowly, she pushed his chest a bit.

"Shall.. shall we go now? I am so excited about the date."

Without waiting for his answer, She quickly stepped out from their bedroom.

His smart phone vibrated as he received a reply from Otoya.

_'Of course, I will. But why so sudden, Tokiya? Something's wrong?'_

The blue head just smiled bitterly.

* * *

 **"** **Haruka?**  Haruka!?"

Haruka opened her eyes slowly as she felt her shoulders were shaken.

She turned to her right side. The image of Tokiya with much blood flew from his forehead sent her to horror. Just what happened to both of them actually? They were on their way to the 'special place' that Tokiya kept mentioning to her before suddenly when they passed through a dark road, a car suddenly hurtled at them.

And after that, she could not remember anything until she came to herself again.

"Thank God, Haruka..." a smile formed as Haruka opened her eyes fully after many difficulties.

"Tokiya, what happened to your face? Why are you bleeding? Auch!" she tried to reach his face yet a shock of pain attacked her legs.

It was broken due to the impact of the cryptic car.

To make it the worst, there was no one around for them to ask for a rescue.

"Are your legs hurt?" he was extremely dizzy but he needed to check Haruka's condition first.

"A lot.."

"It's okay. You would be fine. I would call for a help.."

As he struggled to search for his smartphone, his eyes caught something scarier. The black car which was the culprit for the accident suddenly dashed towards them head-on and mercilessly. Even Tokiya could not tell who the heck was the jerk but one thing for sure was...

The black car's unknown owner was determined to finish them off tonight...

So, this was not an accident! The mysterious man was a killer, to begin with.

"Haruka!" as his mind only thought about rescuing his wife, Tokiya who was also severely injured struggling to drive again while fighting with his shaken vision. As the black car was so near with them when he finally managed to start his car, he knew they did not have any time to escape.

So, he ended up swerving to the right so that he would be one who took the brunt of the crash.

Even it might cost his life; he was more than willing to sacrifice it for her.

"Tokiya!"Haruka's scream followed after an insanely loud sound, coming from the two crashed cars.

Another crash attacked them, resulting an unspeakable pain and blood from Tokiya's body.

"Tokiya, just..just what are you trying to do? Why did you..." Haruka's tears streamed down her face. It felt much more frustrating when she could not even move her half-injured body. She could not believe what was happening right now. Her mind was just frozen when she could feel more blood flew out from Tokiya's body.

"It's..okay. As long as it did not crush you..." her husband's voice sounded weaker but it still attempted to comfort her. "I am your husband, right? A husband should shield his wife."

"No, no... please don't..." her body shivered as the fully-black dressed and masked culprit got down from his car and took her out after rushing to her side.

"No, let me go! Please let me go! Tokiya!" the guy just brutally pushed her onto the ground, caused her body especially her injured legs felt more painful.

And also her stomach... blood slowly flew from her crouch.

Our baby!

"I've waited for you since a long time ago, Ichinose Haruka..." the shaky and rough voice made her paralyzed due to being so scared. He sounded so much like a psychopath. "You should be his... You cannot be with the bastard... You..you should be his..."

What the hell was this bastard talking about? Who was 'his'?

"Who are you? Please..don't hurt me.." she struggled to crawl backward as the deranged man tried to touch her. "Tokiya!"

"Shut up, you bitch!" the slap attacked across her face, caused her lips bleeding. "All you know is Tokiya! What about him? How dare you guys announced your marriage that easily! He has been in love with you such a long time. He suffered because of you! I cannot accept that so tonight, you will be his! I will take you to him!"

"Don't!" Tokiya interrupted all of sudden before pushing the psychopath away from Haruka with his limited energy. The culprit fell down straight onto a rock.

"Dear, are you okay?" unable to resist the pain from the crash anymore, Tokiya landed on top of Haruka.

"I.. I am fine..." Haruka's hand shivered as she stroked Tokiya's hair. His face was ashen while his eyes were half-opened. "Tokiya, you look much..."

Haruka could not finish her words as the culprit suddenly hit Tokiya's back with a baseball bat, enough to make Tokiya screaming in pain but his hands still embraced his wife tightly.

"You son of a bitch! This chick is his! Just go away and die, won't you!" The guy turned crazier as he hit Tokiya again.

"No, don't hit him! Please don't..." Haruka's attempt to gain sympathy was completely a fail. "Tokiya, please stay away from me. You will get killed! Run, Tokiya! Just leave me here!"

"I won't..." Tokiya was positive that most of his bones were broken including his legs. "I can't leave you.. I need to protect you here..."

"No! Please stop!" Haruka lost her mind as she could hear the sound of blood vomiting from Tokiya.

"Calm down, Haruka. He.. he will stop," he pulled her closer to him. The pain from being attacked nonstop from his back slowly killed him yet all that mattered right now was his wife.

"Tokiya..."

"Please don't cry... Please don't.." he kissed her wet cheek softly before approaching her ear. "Haruka, I am sorry for tonight. I am so sorry..."

"Tokiya, no..."

"I love you, Haruka. I really do. Please...forgive me for not being able to celebrate your birthday tonight... I am so sorry..."

She could feel his body turned heavier as his head rested on her shoulder. His weak breath was nowhere to be heard.

"Tokiya, no... Tokiya, wake up..." she shook his shoulder yet to no avail.

The mysterious guy stopped his attack after realizing that Tokiya did not move anymore.

"He is... dead?" he kicked Tokiya's leg but there was still no responses from the vocalist. Tokiya's condition gave him so much pleasure, enough to make him laugh like a retard. "Serve you right, you bitch! Finally, you paid for the consequence!"

The guy just abruptly left the scene while Haruka screamed desperately and hysterically, calling her husband's name nonstop.

Yet, there was no response from him. Let alone a breath.

* * *

 **"** **Come**  on, Syo! Don't be so greedy! Just let me win this time for the God sake!" Otoya complained but was ignored by his friend.

"Otoya, a man should fight on his own. Not by begging his enemy to spare his life for once. You should have more pride," Syo patted Otoya's shoulder dramatically. Seems like he tried to share some words of wisdom but in reality, it was just an insult.

"It is just a game, Syo! A game for our leisure time. You made it sound like a world war."

"Or to be more accurate, it is a game so that we can make ourselves less pathetic," Syo chuckled, trying to crack a joke but as his friend, Otoya knew the latent meaning of the 'joke'.

Otoya remained silent as he laid his back beside Syo. The soccer game was no longer the main focus after they played for two hours straight. The silence was filled in Otoya's room before it was cut by the redhead.

"Hey, Syo..."

"Hm?"

"What do you think those lovebirds are doing right now? A candlelight dinner, perhaps?" the redhead referred to Tokiya and Haruka who were supposed to celebrate the rosette's birthday tonight.

"I don't know... Maybe Tokiya will serenade or something. He has this kind of romantic man vibe so a serenade will suit him the most. He has a good singing voice after all."

"Haha. You are right. It never crossed my mind that used-to-be-aloof guy can be sweet when it comes to his love life but still... I can't guess what is his plan for Nanami tonight."

"It can't be helped, right? Knowing Tokiya, he is the most secretive one. Do you remember, Otoya? We cockblocked him in the hot spring, interrogating him about his first love and all that but he refused to answer us until he fainted out of nervousness."

"Yeah, that one, that one! It's rare to see Tokiya panicked like that, right? We should guess that his first love is Nanami from the start. We all are so dense."

They sighed again. Frankly speaking, they were happy for the couple. As promised, Tokiya has been a very loving husband to Haruka, the girl that they love until now but they could not deny the slight disappointment in their heart when Haruka chose Tokiya instead of them.

A slight disappointment? Not really. In fact, Syo just scolded Tokiya for being the lucky man. He lashed out at the innocent man, bawled out that Tokiya did not deserve to be with Haruka.

Why did I scold him though? He did not do anything wrong. It was Haruka who chose him. It was Haruka who fell in love with the vocalist. He should just be happy for the couple.

No, Syo shook his head. He had always been happy for the couple. Seeing how Tokiya treasured Haruka more than his life was such a great relief for him. The reason why he lashed out at Tokiya was he felt so stressed out and frustrated with himself who just could not move on from loving Haruka.

He just could not control his emotions at that time.

I should apologize to him, Syo grabbed his smart phone but a sudden reluctance stopped him from doing so. Tokiya and him were quite close but they did not spend time together often so they never fought. This was the first fight and who knows, it ended up that tense?

I think it might be proper if I just see him tomorrow and apologize to him face-to-face, he nodded to himself, unaware of the fact that Otoya just observed him in confusion.

"What are you doing, Syo? A few second ago, you shook your head and now you are nodding?" Otoya tilted his head, wondering about Syo's mental state.

"Ehh? No.. nothing. I was just thinking when I should... I should memorize the script," Syo's face was red instantly. "By the way, Otoya... What happens to the Nozomi girl? Do you..." Syo really wanted to know the relationship development between Otoya and his childhood friend. Syo was glad for Otoya because at least, the redhead had a potential girlfriend.

Unlike him who still could not move on. He did not know about Natsuki but it seems like the guy was too happy with his endless upcoming jobs to grieve for somebody's happy marriage. The guy is an optimistic guy after all.

"I am still considering about that. I don't want to hurt her feeling when I still love someone else. She's a nice girl, Syo. Way too nice," Otoya's mind now was distracted by the soft-looking face of Nozomi. His teammates even called them a match from heaven, due to their similar personality. Nozomi loves children and very upbeat just like him.

"I wish I have tons of works like Natsuki tonight," Syo sighed. "So that I will not have time to think about how happy Haruka and Tokiya are."

"And I wish I can move on and start loving another girl like Cecil," Otoya also sighed, expressing jealousy towards Cecil who currently had a girlfriend. He was currently making some preparations for his wedding in his country.

"Speaking about Tokiya, did you receive a weird message from him, Otoya?"

"Yeah! He said something about taking care of Nanami, right? I wonder why, though. As if we will ever let her alone if she needs us. I asked him but so far, I haven't gotten any reply."

"Beats me.."

As they both lost in their own thought, Syo's smartphone was ringing loudly, sending both of them slightly screamed out of shock.

"Speak of the devil.." Syo muttered before clicking his tongue upon learning that it was Natsuki who called him. "Hello, Natsuki.."

"Syo-chan!" he expected a bubbly voice from the big guy but instead, it was a frightened voice. "Have you watched the news?"

"What news?"

"About Tokiya-kun and Haru-chan!"

"What?" Syo quickly grabbed a remote control before switching on the television.

"Syo, what's wrong?" Otoya's red orbs glued to the television screen before it turned wider as he learned what was the point of the news. "Syo, that's Tokiya's car..."

Tokiya's posh car was in an extremely bad shape.

"Just what happened..."

_The singer was dead from shielding his wife, Ichinose Haruka from the culprit._

Both Otoya and Syo gasped in ultra shock.

"Tokiya..." Otoya's tears started to drop while Syo...

His mind froze. There was no way he could apologize to Tokiya tomorrow, let alone seeing him.

* * *

 **Masato**  and Ren just stared at each other before Ren sighed bitterly.

"I really cannot hide anything from you, Hijirikawa."

"What do you expect? You called me this late at night just to hang out together. You have problems and since I troubled myself accompanying you tonight, you might as well share it to me."

Ren took a sip of coffee while taking a glance at Masato's living room before continuing nonchalantly. "Maaya wants a divorce."

"What?"

"And I think I might as well agree with her for once in my life. We don't have a chemistry after all."

"You mean, you still love another girl instead of your wife," Masato corrected him calmly.

"Lady is the first girl that I even love sincerely. I really want to make her mine the moment Saotome-san allowed us to date but... Icchi, the lucky bastard.." Ren chuckled.

"She chose Ichinose so there is nothing we can do. I know how it feels, Jinguji. I also had a hard time to accept Shizuka as my wife-to-be but my buttler, oji-san advised me to give it a shot. When I could not make Nanami mine, it means Shizuka is meant to be with me so I need to accept her from now on."

"Maaya said she knows that I don't have any feeling to her. It's not like I didn't give a try, Hijirikawa. She has been a good wife to me so I tried to do the same thing by remembering his birthday, giving her presents and stuff but to reciprocate her love... I don't know.. it takes more time than I thought.."

"You should reconsider the divorce, Jinguji."

"Is that so?" being typical Masato who loves peace and being rational as always, Ren could not expect a different answer from that childhood friend of him. "Our life is so typical right Hijirikawa? In STARISH, we are the only members who had partners out of the family arrangement. The others can remain single because they don't have parents who will tell you to marry a random girl for the sake of the company or something."

No answers from Masato but Ren knew that the blue head agreed with him.

Masato's smartphone was ringing while showing 'Kurusu Syo' on the screen.

"Hello, Kurusu?"

"Hijirikawa, Tokiya..."

"Hm? What's wrong with Ichinose?"

"Haven't you watched the news? Tokiya and Nanami were involved in an accident. Tokiya... he is..." Syo's sudden cry made Masato's heart beating fast. His blue orbs met Ren's eyes and from the way the blue head looked at him, Ren got the picture on the spot.

Something atrocious just happened when they both were talking peacefully in the air-conditioned living room.

_'_ _Please take care of Haruka.'_

Now, they finally got the answer regarding Tokiya's sudden text message.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka is still in grief. STARISH had to swallow the fact that they had to continue striving without Tokiya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the guest who just gave my work a 'Kudos'. Thank you sooo much!

**A**  month has passed yet the shiver and trauma that Haruka suffered from Tokiya's death still haunted her mercilessly. Losing her first love since high school is the last thing that she wanted to go through. She almost lost her mind when she hallucinated about him 24 hours, especially with the fact that her injured legs took time to recover so she spent most her time in their house, crying and calling out Tokiya whenever she saw 'him'. In the end, she moved out of their house and lived together with Tomochika while being nursed by her grandmother, Yachiyo.

To make it worse, she had a miscarriage as the consequence from being thrown to the ground by the bastard. To put it simply, she lost both of her husband and child in just one night.

A child that was long-awaited by the couple since Tokiya's constitution was too poor and according to a few specialists, the chance for them to get a child was almost zero.

It was all her fault. If it was not because of her, Tokiya would still be alive. She should be the one who died at that night since it was blatant that the bastard targeted her in the first place. Tokiya's attempt to save her most probably had gotten into the mysterious man's last nerve before killing him instead.

As time goes by, Haruka managed to overcome her pain when she was with others including STARISH members but she would become vice versa when she was alone. She would listen to all her husband's songs because she missed him but she would cry after that because she missed his actual presence.

So, to cheer her up, they always accompanied her, trying their best to make her move on from her memories with Tokiya.

Even they knew it took a lot of efforts for them to do so.

"How are you doing these days?" the redhead in front of her asked with a concerned voice as usual. They met up in a bistro, not far from Tomochika's house.

"I am fine. I am so fine," her gestures obviously looked fake yet she could not help it. She is not a good actress like her late husband. She could not be fine when she felt vice versa.

The sight of hopeless Haruka broke Otoya's heart. Obviously, her mind was still full of Tokiya. Her face looked ashen while her eyes... obviously she has cried a lot these days.

His ex-roommate was dead this soon and this is the harshest reality that they needed to accept. The image of Tokiya who flatlined on top of the traumatized Haruka with his bloodstained shirt and scary wounds made Otoya and the other STARISH members could not even response out of shock. They never thought that they would be devastated about Tokiya's lifeless body this soon in such an unacceptable way.

Yet they knew that as broken-hearted they could be, they should be the good supporters for Haruka especially when she never stopped blaming herself for being the sole cause for her husband's death.

"Nanami, I know I shouldn't advise you like this but you should take care of yourself. Tomo-chan told us that you have barely eaten anything. Please, Nanami. If Tokiya is still here, he will not feel pleasant about this..."

"If Tokiya is still here..." Haruka mumbled but it was still clear in Otoya's ears. Instead of responding to Otoya, the composer who currently took a long break from writing songs just spaced out in despair.

Wait.. did I say something wrong here? Ahhh, stupid Otoya! The others expected you to comfort her but you did the other way around. Hats off, Otoya!!

"I really wish he's still here, Ittoki-kun," Haruka formed a bitter smile. "It has been only two years since we got married and frankly speaking, I am not satisfied with that. We did love each other since a long time ago but me, being so oblivious about his made our relationship started late."

"Nah, you shouldn't completely blame yourself, Nanami. Tokiya is such a stoic that the rest of us also didn't even get suspicious of his feeling towards you. But we were glad when you decided to look for him at the airport and confessed to him right away."

"Don't make me recall it. It's embarrassing. I feel like I was shooting a drama," Haruka's cheeks turned red but at least, he managed to cheer her up.

"I know right! We all like 'wow, Nanami! That was... amazing!' That was the first time we see you being bold like that other than because of music and Tokiya was like 'what the heck is she doing?'," Otoya could not hold his laugh and he knew, the others felt the same as well when all of them secretly followed her to be the witnesses of Haruka's confession.

"I couldn't help it," Haruka played with her fingers sheepishly. "I am just afraid that I would lose him so I just did my best to tell him my feeling. You know, Ittoki-kun, sometimes I just wonder how does it feel if I can be his girlfriend during high school.." Haruka blushed more with the thought. After both of them were clear about each other's feelings, they decided to get married as soon as possible.

"I think it might be a bit tough to be honest.." Otoya chuckled. "You do know that he rejected a ton of girls who chased him around, right? He was soooo icy and aloof back then."

"Yeah, you are right. He was like a walking ice."

"I know right! But those girls ended up lashing out at you since you are the only girl who actually could approach him. They got jealous because he seems to be open only with you."

"But to tell you the truth, initially I just approached him because I am a fan of him. He is the reason why I want to be a composer in the first place but to see him struggling with his singing... I just want to help him. It's tough, you know...struggling for your dream but you cannot share your problem with anyone because you have a secret that you need to keep."

"And then, you guys started to love each other. Totally saw that coming."

Haruka smiled bitterly before looking at Otoya, straight in the red eyes. "I really miss him, Ittoki-kun."

Otoya's bright smile quickly faded away.

Tokiya, what should I do?

* * *

 **STARISH**  members had promised to practice for their upcoming song after rearrangement had being finalized in terms of lyrics and choreography. They also needed to bear with countless interviews as Tokiya's death meant they lost a teammate while the fans lost their beloved idol. All this mental and emotional suffers were enough to make them spent and heart – ached.

"Again, Ittoki is late..." Masato sighed while crossing his arms. He did not play piano to kill the time as usual. He just did not feel like doing it.

"But it does feel strange right? Tokiya-kun is also late," Natsuki replied, innocently, caused the others turned to look at him.

The atmosphere suddenly turned depressing, much to Natsuki's shock before he realized the truth. How could he forget that Tokiya already left them?

"I.. I am sorry. It just that... I am so used to see us as seven people instead of six," Natsuki bit his lips.

"It's okay, Shinomi... We can relate to you. If there is still another person who forgets about Icchi's death.. it will be..." Ren stopped when suddenly, the room's door was opened from outside before revealing the extremely energetic Otoya.

"Tokiyaaaaa!" the others gasped when the name was mentioned happily. "Guess what? You must thank me now, Tokiya! I managed to find your long-lost book! Even you the Mr. Perfect can't do that! Hahahaha!"

Again, the atmosphere in the training room turned gloomy.

"Eh? Where is Tokiya? Am I earlier than him? Wowww, that was unusual!"

"Otoya-kun," Natsuki said, softly. "Tokiya-kun is already..."

The reality hit Otoya so hard. It took a while for him to make himself grasped the truth.

"I.. I am sorry, guys. I just forgot..."

"It's okay, Otoya-kun. I also forgot about that just now.." Natsuki put his big hand on Otoya's shoulder while smiling bitterly.

"How was Little Lamb doing?" Ren asked immediately. It sounded calm but it was still full of concern. "You met her this morning, right?"

"Yes. She is still in pain. It broke my heart when she said that she misses him so much."

"She needs time to move on. Just like us..." Natsuki said, slowly.

"Frankly speaking, I still cannot believe that Ichinose left us so soon," in fact, Masato was also in a great pain even he looked like the calmest out of them. He lost a friend who is always on the same wavelength as him. They were even called twins for having the similar personality and hair color. He felt the loneliest when after Tokiya's death, he hosted their variety show alone.

"So soon and in such a disturbing way. That bastard just needs to go to hell!" Syo, being hot-headed as usual, could not forgive the guy who had plagued both Tokiya and Haruka.

"Without Tokiya, STARISH would never be the same," Cecil sighed.

"You know what? Nanami said that she wishes to be in a relationship with Tokiya during our high school time. She blamed herself for being too oblivious about her feeling for such a long time that she missed the chance to go out with Tokiya properly. But, come to think of it, it will be hard to do since we are forbidden to date," Otoya chuckled when the image of blushed Haruka registered in his mind.

"Well, yeah, she's so dense. How the heck she didn't even react when I confessed to her? I even tried to kiss her," Cecil obviously looked dejected and annoyed, caused the others laughed.

"It's because you're too creepy and bold for a pure Japanese girl like her," Ren answered.

"What the heck were you thinking anyway? Aggressively flirting with her..." Syo was also slightly annoyed in spite of the memory was a long time ago, before Cecil joining them as a STARISH member.

"I was in love with her so I could not help it. She really means a lot to me.."

"She means a lot to all of us, including Ichinose," Masato smiled serenely.

"If only I can fulfill her wish..." Otoya said, causing Cecil to come up with something. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning, Haruka, Tomochika and STARISH mysteriously found themselves in Saotome Academy, being the students again..

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

 

 **Haruka** opened her eyes slowly before realizing something that was still weird in her eyes as she turned to her right side.

Since a month ago, Tokiya was no longer by her side.

Since a month ago, she had to convince herself to accept the reality that she lost the first person who would greet and kiss her lovingly in every single morning since their marriage.

“Good morning, Haruka.”

She missed his voice. She just missed everything about him.

“Good morning, Tokiya-kun...” she caressed the empty bedside, missing the actual and warm presence of her late husband.

“Did you sleep well?”

She shook her head as if Tokiya was greeting her.

“I am not. I finally can forget about you a bit but I still love this house. That’s why I moved in back with obachan and I really wish.. all of this was a dream. I really wish the fact that you left me forever is just a nightmare...”

“Haruka?”

She looked around nervously. That was not a voice she hoped for. Is there another person in her room? That voice sounded familiar, though.

It took a while for her to realize that her bed is not the king-sized one, the one she shared with Tokiya. Not to mention that...

The room.. It looked just like her dorm in Saotome Academy. If her memory serves her right, she slept in her shared bedroom with Tokiya last night. Not in the dorm...

Wait... school? Her small body spontaneously rised out of panic. Her eyes caught another figure who just came back from outside.

“Tomo-chan?”

“Haruka, are you awake?” the idol took a seat on the composer’s bed before grabbing her shoulder. “This is so weird,” Tomochika looked as puzzled and curious as her. The idol looked around the dorm, struggled to convince herself that last night, she came back home in a completely sober state.

“Tomo-chan, how did we...”

“How did you and I sleep in the same room? You just moved back to your house yesterday, right?”

Yes, that was even weirder..

Wait! Where is obachan?

Suddenly, they could hear noisy sounds from a group of female students, right from outside of their dorm. Haruka quickly approached the window before getting more confused and shocked.

“What’s wrong, Haruka?” Tomochika asked from the shorter girl’s back. “Ehhhhhh? Are those girls from our batch? What are they doing here? Why are they wearing school uniform?”

More students walked past their dorm while doing any typical things that a high school female students would do like gossiping and fixing makeup.

Haruka quickly called Yachiyo’s house, confirming something.

“Moshi – moshi, obachan.”

“Haru-chan? Why are you calling?” Yachiyo could not contain her surprise as she asked but it just made her Haru-chan got more surprised.

“No.. nothing. It is just that I felt nervous to go to school today.”

“Why, dear? Is it because of your assignment with... his name is Ittoki-kun, right? You hummed the tone last night and I think it is great. I am sure you will get a good grade for the assignment.”

Is obachan talking about Brand New Melody? That means... now it is supposed to be the first week of the semester.

After finished talking with Yachiyo, Haruka turned her attention to Tomochika, only to find the idol stared at a calendar on the wall in disbelief.

“Haruka...” the idol looked at her best friend. “It looks like we just came to our past. Just look at the calendar.”

“What?”

Just what happened to both of them?

* * *

 

 **The** circumstance became more confusing when the assembly that they had to attend every Monday ended. Haruka and Tomochika came across Otoya, their classmate or to be more specific, their classmate from 12 years ago. They could not help but wondering about the way Otoya dressed up.

Back then, he dressed up casually with a loose tie, an unbuttoned blazer and a red headphone around his neck.

But now, he looked more dishevelled. He was not like the high school version of Otoya that they were so familiar with.

“Nanami? Tomo-chan?”

“Ittoki-kun?” the girls quickly approached Otoya.

Otoya and the girls now stood opposite to each others in the midst of the other students who walked to their classrooms respectively.

“Hey..” they tried to say something that bothered their minds but...

They just could not find right words to portray their puzzlement.

Things suddenly turned awkward between them. Not like before when they would spontaneously chat about random things, proving their close relationship.

“Actually I... I was wondering if you are.. you know..” Otoya scratched his head roughly.

“What?” Haruka’s golden eyes fixed Otoya with a curious look.

“Er... 29 years old... ehhh, how should I put it?” Otoya also looked as confused and anxious as her this morning. He scratched his red head even rougher.

“What is it, Ittoki-kun?” while Tomochika asked him, Haruka’s mind generated a sudden thought about her late husband.

If it was true that she was in her past, did it mean she could see Tokiya again?

“Tomo-chan, Ittoki-kun,excuse me.. I will meet you guys in class...” she ran away, ignoring questions from the duo. What mattered the most right now was...

Tokiya. She needed to find him.

“Tokiya-kun... where are you...” her golden eyes searched for the blue head but to no avail.Others started whispering around her, wondering what on earth this girl was doing when they were supposed to go back to their class but she did the opposite one instead. She headed towards the main hall which where the morning assembly was held with a hopeful smile on her face. If it was true that Tokiya existed in this world....

She could not describe with words how precious this so-called-back-to-her-past gift to her. She certainly would hug and kiss him.

She stopped for a while. Her not-so-athletic body got tired after running but her eyes still did their job, searching for her late husband’s figure. She continued with the same steps. Running to find Tokiya, paused for a while to catch her breath until eventually...

You can’t find him, right, Haruka? You dimwit! In your present, your husband is already dead! That’s why you can’t even find him. Just accept the truth that there are certain things will never be the same, won’t you!?

The tease in her head hit her like a school bus. Her body started shaking terribly as she started to believe her random thought.

I guess I was cheated by my own excitement.

* * *

 

 **When** she slowly walked to the direction of her class,Tomochika and Otoya were still at the same spot when she abruptly left them just now.

“Haruka, are you alright? Where were you going?” Tomochika held the small shoulders of Haruka when the composer just looked down.

“I.. I am okay. It is just that I left my handkerchief in the hall by accident,” she answered but she did not have any guts to meet their eyes when hers tried so hard to not drop any tears.

She did not want to make them worried about her anymore.

“Nanami,what’s wrong?” the red head asked as her shaking body caught his eyes.

“Nothing...”

Haruka smiled guttedly before biting her lips, convincing herself that even she was currently in their past...

It was possible that there were certain things that would never be the same..

Tokiya would never come back to her. Not anymore.

“Otoya!”

The depressing moment was broken by a familiar voice. A voice that they never knew they would hear it again.

The three heads turned to the voice’s direction before gasping out of surprise. They could not believe their eyes as a tall frame approached them with a frowned face, glaring at Otoya.

A spiky blue hair, a pointed nose, a pair of cobalt blue eyes, an astonishing voice that you know it will be more impactful when he sings...

To..Tokiya-kun! Haruka wiped the tears on her cheeks as the figure became clearer in her sight.

“Haruka... is that.. Ichi.. Ichinose-san...” Tomochika’s words just proved her that it was not only her imagination.

She did not hallucinate at all. The love of her life, Ichinose Tokiya was standing right in front of them.

This was too good to be true.

“Otoya, you...” before Tokiya could even be cross, Otoya hugged him tightly. It looked more comical when Otoya wrapped his legs around his roommate’s waist, supporting himself from falling onto the ground.

“Tokiya!!!”

“Otoya, what the...” Tokiya struggled to break the hug but the more he tried it, the more Otoya desperately hugged him again. “What’s gotten into you!? It’s embarrassing, you moron!”

“Tokiya, is this you? You’re Tokiya, right!? The real Tokiya, right, right!!?” out of amazement and ultra happiness, he slapped Tokiya a few times, much to his roommate’s annoyance.

“Of course. Is there any fake Tokiya around?” the taller teen rolled his eyes, totally could not bear with his roommate’s ridicule. “That hurts!”

“I miss you! Is this a dream? I can see you be alive again!” Otoya held Tokiya’s broader shoulders before shaking them strongly.

“Wait, what are you on about? Of course I am still alive, you idiot! Now let me go!!” the perfectionist finally managed to break the hug by shouting furiously before fixing his blazer and tie.

“But I swear you are already dead, Tokiya!”

“What!!?” the other three shouted at the same time but due to different reasons.

Ittoki-kun also thought that my husband was dead? Is he just the same as us? Haruka slowly got the picture.

“What the heck are you talking about? Did you have a nightmare again?” Tokiya sighed as he crossed his arms. Obviously, he did not take his roommate’s words seriously. “Back to our topic, do you actually forget that you owe me an explaination?”

“Eh? I owe you.. what?” Otoya responded with a naive and stupid look as usual. Obviously, he had not idea why on earth this roommate of his became this angry when the morning had just started.

“You shouldn’t ask me that question when you used my laptop without my permission and to make it worse, you opened my files. Why are you so rude, Otoya!?” Tokiya’s voice got louder as he recalled why he was pissed off with the red head in the first place.

“Eh? When did I...” Otoya’s eyebrows furrowed, struggling to remember the ‘using-Tokiya’s-laptop-without permission’ episode but to no avail. He looked ridiculously calm for someone who faced Ichinose Tokiya which everybody around him knows just how intimidating he can be eventhough he is not violent at all. “Oh, that one! It has been quite a nostalgia, right? No, I mean, I.. I am sorry! I just wanted to watch some Hayato’s videos and wondered if you ever have one.. I guess you don’t want people to know that you are a hardcore fan of your own brother... wait, Tokiya! Don’t get mad! I swear I never do it again! I promise!!”

But it was too late. The dark purple aura around Tokiya was emitted, enough to make the blue-haired boy just looked like one of the villains from Dragon Ball series who was determined to destroy the earth. But those exaggerating comparison shattered when Tokiya suddenly got calmer before sighing heavily.

“Next time, don’t just casually use my belongings like that,” with a look which managed to make Otoya flinched while smiling like a moron, he left them. He did not even bother to glance at Haruka who stared at him with a longing in her eyes.

“He is still scary as ever,” Otoya sighed heavily before smiling in relief. “Well, I guess being sent again to our past is not bad at all. I can see Tokiya again.”

It took a while for Haruka to realize the hidden meaning of the words from Otoya.

What’s that supposed to mean? He is the current Otoya, right?

Or he is not? Like her?

“What do you mean by ‘being sent again to our past’?” Tomochika asked, curiously.

“Eh? I... you see...” while Otoya was hesitant to explain, Haruka already left them again. She ran desperately towards Tokiya.

“Tokiya-kun!” her boldness in calling the antisocial boy with his first name managed to make other students shocked.

The said boy stopped walking before glowering at Haruka. That action was enough to make her remember something that she should be aware from the start.

Ah, he must be angry because I called him by his first name. He is not the Tokiya-kun who prefers me calling him by that name instead of ‘Ichinose-san’. Stupid Haruka!

“Excuse me?” the boy raised his eyebrow, indirectly telling her that she was being rude.

“Toki.. I mean.. Ichinose san...”she struggled to breath normally as her eyes met the fascinating blue eyes of him. Not to mention her tongue felt awkward when addressing her husband like that.

“You.. You are Ichinose Tokiya, right? The roommate of Ittoki-kun..” she asked while coaxing herself to not being a weirdo by breaking into tears in front of this boy who treated her as a stranger.

Yet, she knew it was impossible since all she wanted to do if she could see him again was holding him tightly.

Once again...

“Yes, I am... Why?” Tokiya started to be truly annoyed with the fact that so far, there were two people who randomly questioned his identity while the rest of them distracted him to ask either he is Hayato or not. It was tiring for him to answer the same questions all over again.

Before he knew it, a small frame suddenly approached him before hugging him affectionately.

It felt like the time suddenly stopped for Haruka when she finally could touch Tokiya again especially when her body missed his warmth and scent.

“I miss you, Tokiya-kun...”Again, she called him by his first name but when Tokiya was about to react, he felt a soft lips was pressed against his cheek.

“W..what?” the boy was gobsmacked to scold her for acting that shamless.

Just where did this girl come from? If his memory serves him right, all he did when he saw her was either ignoring or glaring at her furiously.  
And she missed him?

“Miss Nanamiiii.... Misterrr Ichinosee...” suddenly, a familiar voice that always appeared out of nowhere could be heard throughout the school area. That was when Haruka who finally broke her hug realized just what happened around her.

All students froze on their spots respectively just to stare at them. She was puzzled when most of the female students glared at her while a few metres away from her, Tomochika and Otoya just gave her a sympathetic look which she knew why.

“Miss Nanami, Mr. Ichinose, come to my office right now!” Shining Saotome, the principal of the academy obviously looked pissed off as he suddenly and ridiculously disappeared.

Haruka knew, she would pay the price.

* * *

 

 **“You** both do know that in this school, love is forbidden, rightttt?”

That one bloody sentence still hit her hard as both Tokiya and her just walked out from Saotome’s office. Silence engulfed the whole corridor as other students had just started their class and Haruka did not even have the guts to break the atmosphere with a small talk.

Especially when she knew how Tokiya struggled to calm himself down from punching her. Being a friend of this guy since high school and living together for two years after their marriage made her as a person who can read Tokiya from A to Z.

Tokiya is utterly angry. He feels that this whole situation is retarded. He blames me for this commotion because apparently, I was the one who caused both of us to get into trouble. Oh my... how am I supposed to make him cool down?

She got more nervous as she knows that Tokiya was used to be so serious and cold to the point of he could not tolerate Otoya’s effort to get chummy with him. Instead, he called the red head a nuisance.

Now, his face looks like... eh, if i am not mistaken, he was curious about... just now?

“What are you looking at?” his cold voice sent her flinching and shouted a bit.

“I.. I just wanted to see your face,” she knew her answer sounded absurd yet she could not help it. Tokiya’s presence right in front of her after she believed that she lost him forever made her happines overflew. She just could not control herself from being bold.

If only this guy knew how much she loves him...

“My face? Why? Are you such a fan of Hayato that you just wish that you are walking with him instead of me?”

Haruka bit her lips. Ah, he must refer to our first encounter. I mistook him for Hayato. Well, ‘mistook’ is not the right word since he is Hayato after all.

Yes, she was Hayato’s fan but back then, he admired him solely for his singing. “No.. I mean, yes.. I am a fan of him but...”

“Then, get lost. Don’t even bother to approach me like just now and say something creepy like you miss him and stuff. You almost got us expelled. Luckily, Saotome-san is very considerate this time. He even gave us one last chance and you should be grateful with that.”

If Haruka was any random student, she would wonder about how could Tokiya just casually address their respected principal as ‘Saotome-san’.

But being his friend and wife, she knew thorough enough about Tokiya’s history that she did not even bother to ask him anymore. She knows that before attending this academy, Tokiya used to act together with the principal, which made their relationship closer than just a principal and a student.

“I am sorry. I promise I will never do that again,” she decided to apologize instead. She absolutely did not have any solid reason to answer him.

It’s better for me to apologize... He won’t buy the ‘I miss you because you are my husband. You are dead from a homicide. Trust me. Ten years later, we will get married’ thing. Anyone would not buy such illogical excuse.

Am I not supposed to tell him just where do I come from? But.. I really want to use this chance to create great memories with him as much as possible, though..

Tokiya stared coldly at Haruka before leaving her abruptly. Not to her surprise because she absolutely could predict how her husband would react when he led a double life as Hayato. He was cold with everyone.

Haruka’s eyes just fixed Tokiya with a loving look until his frame was no longer in her sight.

Swear to God, I’ll do whatever it takes to win your heart and help you to get out from every single problems that you have gone through. I know you had hard times, Tokiya-kun.

* * *

 

 **“That** Hayato’s little brother was just caught by the principal for hugging a girl!”

“The girl even kissed his cheek and guess what? He just let her did that!”

“For someone who is so icy and aloof, he could be that lovey-dovey with a random girl, huh?”

“Maybe that chick is his girlfriend from the start? Who knows...”

“I bet both of them will be punished.”

Ren’s brows came together as every single word from those gossipers alias his classmates were registered in his mind. Obviously, they talked about Tokiya.

Wait! Is Icchi alive in this world? Does it mean I can see him again?

Ren’s mind could not be more confused than now. This morning, he lost his coolness when he found himself in his school dorm instead of in his sumptous mansion. Weirdly enough, he found Masato who was his roommate to have the same expression as him before preparing to go to school.

He stared at Syo whose seat was right in front of him. From the body language of the small boy, he could assume that Syo had something in his mind. The roommate of Natsuki has been spaced out since he got back from the assembly.

Here and there, the gossip about Tokiya hugged a girl still circulated in the top class.

Thank God, I can see Tokiya again! Well, considering that I kinda returned to our past, it does make sense that Tokiya is here, Syo’s mind spoke in between nervousness and thrill. He could not bring himself to have a chit-chat with his classmates when he was still shocked with what happened to him after waking up from bed this morning. He needed to find the truth.

Suddenly the said person who was instantly became a hot topic since this morning walked into the class, caused his classmates settled down and randomly did anything to cover the fact that they just gossiped about him.

But it was different with Ren and Syo. Ren’s eyes widened while struggling to pull himself together while Syo’s jaws dropped as his eyes followed every steps of Tokiya, heading to his seat.

I.. Icchi?

Tokiya?

Tokiya ignored those stares from his classmates. He took out a note from his beg before doing a revision. However, after a few seconds, he could not help but feeling irritated with the way Ren and Syo stared at him like they were going to eat him for breakfast.

“What?” his question was enough to make the other two flinched before pretending to do some random activities.

Tokiya sighed heavily. He wondered just what the hell was wrong with everyone. Just now, while heading to this class, he really just wanted to punch everyone who talked behind his back before zipping their mouths automatically and ran away when he gave them a death glare.

Either they just commented on how different his personality with Hayato despite of being twins or they just gossiped about his hugging scene with a random girl, he just felt equally annoyed. Could they just shut up and mind their own business? It was not like he caused trouble to them, considering how aloof he was with everyone.

However, his ‘don’t disturb me’ aura was not enough to resist Syo from softly patting his arm out of curiosity.

“What?”

“You... You are Ichinose Tokiya, right?”

Again... Another different person but with the same question. Did he really look like the fake Tokiya that everyone started to question his identity now?

Well, at least, these people did not mention anything about Hayato.

“Yes, Syo,” his answer sent Syo approaching him aggressively. To his shock, the a la mode boy cupped his cheeks before slapping them hard.

“You.. you really are!” Syo exclaimed dramatically before his black-nailed hands pulled Tokiya’s blue hair, enough to make the soft-spoken Tokiya screamed in pain. Of course the other classmates instantly looked at them but the duo just ignored it. “This kind of hairstyle... only you will have it, Tokiya!”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Tokiya rolled his eyes. “Seriously, what’s wrong with everyone? Why did you guys keep asking either I am Tokiya or not!?”

“Everyone? Who is everyone?” Ren interrupted all of sudden. Being quick-witted as always, he was convinced that he finally could solve the puzzle.

“Otoya,” Tokiya replied shortly. He did not even bother to include Haruka in the list because of the fact that he did not know her but she still managed to make him seeing red.

Yet, he did not notice that the answer he gave them made Syo and Ren dumbstruck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for chapter 3! If you like it, feel free to comment on my story so that I can improve my writing. And by the way, thank you for the guest who gave me the second 'Kudos'! Thank you soo much!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> STARISH's reactions when they met Tokiya and Cecil (?) again..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, to Victoria-san and otaku_desu1-san, thank you for your comments! They really made my day, honestly. Hope you guys and whoever that will read my story get more interested in this first try of mine. Now, moving on to the story!

CREDITS TO : UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

 

 **“Haruka,** look over there.”

A touch around her arm made Haruka’s mind went back to reality. It was a lunch break and after taking a bite, Tomochika and Haruka took a walk randomly around the school. It felt nice to go back to school even the enigma of why they were here still remained as one.

Haruka looked past the field and over there, under a cherry blossom tree, she could see that the STARISH members were forming a circle, seemingly discussed something.

“Let’s join them,” Tomochika pulled her best friend’s arm before heading towards the boys.

“As soon as I woke up, I found myself in the dorm. I looked at Jinguji and I could see that he was also as confused as me,” Masato said while crossing his arms.

“Me too. I was surprised to see Syo-chan in the same room with me. At first, I thought that Syo-chan wanted to surprise me by sneaking into my house,” completely opposite with serious Masato, Natsuki shared his experience while smiling brightly.

“Hell I won’t! Why would I sneak into your house, you idiot!?” Syo totally snapped with the ludicrous imagination of Natsuki. In fact, he was so grateful for finally being able to be free from the tallest guy in the group.

“As for me, Tokiya suddenly came and scolded me for using his laptop, right after the assembly,” Otoya interrupted while scratching his red head. It became his sudden habit since this morning as he could not conceal his bewilderment.

“What? Ichinose? Did you just say Ichinose?” Masato could not believe his ears while Natsuki’ green eyes grew wider out of delight.

“Did you meet Tokiya-kun?”

“Yes, Masa, Natsuki. Tokiya is here,” Otoya responded while smiling brightly. “Nanami even hugged and kissed him because she could not contain her excitement. Luckily, the president... I mean the principal gave them a second chance.”

They chuckled almost in unison before..

“You guys are supposed to be an adult, right?” Haruka’s question that popped out of nowhere made Otoya and Syo shouted so loud that they even managed to scare those birds nearby, sending them flying to the sky.

“Nanami, what are you doing? You almost made my heart dropped,” Syo rubbed his chest with an annoyance. “Eh, Nanami?? You are here? You... with Tomochika?”

“I am sorry for the interruption,” Nanami replied, softly. “Well, I guess, nice to meet you guys again in this school.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you guys here,” Tomochika added.

“Likewise, Haru-chan, Tomo-chan!” Natsuki paused before adding, “And Tokiya-kun too!”

“Yeah. It’s a good thing we can see Icchi again...” Ren remarked. It felt like a dream when he could sit beside Tokiya again in class.

“But it will be tough to get chummy with him since he is his normal self before debut,” Syo added.

“Yeah, you are right, Syo-chan.”

Again, silence fulfilled the atmosphere. They honestly did not know what should they do next.

“Has anybody seen Aijima?” Masato asked, sending the others shook their heads.

“Well, maybe instead of being younger, he turned into a cat like he was supposed to be. He would come and being clingy with Nanami like before,” Syo said, unconsciously expressing his silent jealousy. “Could it be.. Cecil is the one who made all this? You know.. with his absurd magic.. anything can happen...”

“Waaaa, Ochibi-chan is so smart!”

“Don’t call me Ochibi, Ren!”

“I think maybe we are sent here because of Tokiya-kun. Whoever that put us here possibly wants us to change something in our past,” Natsuki interrupted while hugging Syo’s back who was persistent to strangle Ren at all costs. “Who knows, we can find who killed Tokiya-kun as well.”

“You are right, Shinomiya-san! This is the right time for me to protect my husband from anyone who will hurt him,” Haruka remarked in stick-to-itiveness.

“So, first of all, Haruka, I believe you are the one who knows what your husband needs the most at this time, ” Tomochika’s words made all eyes focused on Haruka.

“Eh? Me?” Haruka pointed at herself.

“Of course you are, Nanami. Just so you know, Tokiya is so secretive with us. We never knew that he has family problems until you accidentally told us,” Syo replied.

“Well, according to him, he told me everything because I am his wife,” Haruka admitted.

“Maybe we are here to help you achieving your goal. Do you remember? You told Ittoki that you wish to see Ichinose during our school time. I think that makes sense why we are all here so please tell us in details what is your wish, Nanami. What do you want to do with Ichinose,” Masato commented.

Haruka almost bursted into tears as she could sense the sincerity from all her friends’ eyes. They have been so supportive of her relationship with Tokiya until now even all of them used to love her so much.

“Well... I wish I can go out with him properly but first of all, I want him to know that he is not alone. He has us.”

* * *

 

 **At** that night, five pair of eyes focused deeply on a black cat while forming a circle around the said animal. Their brows stuck together, enough to describe just how intently they tried to understand the creature with only ‘meow’ as its vocabulary but...

“Enough is enough! Just turn into a human and talk, you frigging cat!” as the one who typically lost his temper easily, Syo suddenly grabbed and strangled the black cat out of frustration.

“Waaaaa, Syo, don’t kill him! He’s still your friend!” Otoya quickly backhugged Syo while Natsuki swiftly grabbed the said animal before stroking its fur gently.

“I don’t have a friend who talks a load of crap about magic and dragged us into this mess!” Syo totally faced the music as the cat suddenly bit his finger.

“You stupid cat!!” Natsuki and Syo’s room became messier as Syo chased after the animal.

“Ne, Masa, Ren. Is it really okay if we..” Otoya who was anxious about his friends’ wellbeing tried to gain the said scions’ attention but..

“Just let them be,” Ren sighed, too lazy to take part in the childish fight.

“At least we already know that Aijima is the cause of the whole situation,” Masato concluded from the gestures that Cecil alias the cat has made since an hour ago.

It was all started when Natsuki told them that he had found a cute cat and before he told them that he was going to make the cat as his pet, they all shouted,  
“That’s Aijima/Cecil/Cesshi!!”

Without wasting any second, they interrogated Cecil the Cat because it was no doubts that whatever happened to them right now was all Cecil’s doing.

Yet it was to no avail. Cecil’s continuous ‘meow-meow’sounds were barely understood by those dorks.

“Is Icchi in your room right now?” Ren’s blue eyes met Otoya’s red eyes.

“Yes. He’s studying,” Otoya grinned happily. This morning, he did not get a chance to meet Tokiya. He assumed that he woke up too late and Tokiya did not even bother to wait for him. Since this evening until just now, he managed to look at Tokiya up close and to be honest...

He could not hold back from grinning like a moron all the time when he saw Tokiya around him. It felt warm and it took all for him to not feel emotional or bursting into tears.  
Even all of this happened so quick and ridiculous, it never crossed his mind that he would see Tokiya again.

“How do you feel when you see him in your room?” Ren asked with a warm smile even he already knew what was the answer.

“I am so happy, Ren,” Otoya replied him with the same kind of smile before receiving a stroke on his shoulder from the rich guy.

“You don’t see him yourself yet, right, Hijirikawa?” Ren asked, receiving a nod from Masato.

“Would you mind if I hang out in your room later, Ittoki?” Masato asked before receiving a nod and chummy smile from the red head.

After having a chit-chat for a while, they went back to their respective dorms without even bothering to stop Syo from killing Cecil the Cat.

* * *

 

 **“So,** today was supposed to be the third day of school,” Otoya whispered to himself as he recalled how they were assigned to write a song for the first assignment ever.

Of course it would be a piece of cake for Otoya, especially when as predicted, he was paired with Haruka. All they had to do was choosing his song, Brand New Melody as their assignment. Unlike others who worked hard to compose the song, Otoya instead told Haruka,

“It’s okay, Nanami. We can just pretend that we worked hard to compose Brand New Melody. Instead, you should focus on how to help Tokiya.”

Apparently, that is one of the benefits once they returned to the past. They did not need to waste time in brainstorming anymore.

But when he had nothing to do tonight, it looked like he would end up wasting time again by spacing out or something...

“Ahhhhh, what should I do tonight?” he rolled on the floor while resting his head on his arms with closed eyes. He bet the other STARISH members except Cecil and Tokiya were also bored like him.

Out of the blue, the first thing or person that he saw right after he opened his eyes was...

“I cannot concentrate if you make noises.”

Tokiya.

Wait, this is absolutely his typical reaction when he gets annoyed with me. How about... Otoya’s mind suddenly generated a random idea, realizing how he missed everything about Tokiya.

“Hihi.. Sorry. Tokiya also can make noises.”

“That’s not my point. I mean that I want you to be quiet,” a vein suddenly throbbed from Tokiya’s forehead, indicating just how annoyed he was with the annoying answer.

“Ahahaha, the same reaction!”

“What?”

“Eh? I mean... I am sorry. I was too bored.”

“Don’t you have an assignment to do?”

“I.. I have done it...”

“Good for you then,” Tokiya remarked sarcastically before returning to his desk. “Since you have already done your assignment, it will be much appreciated if you can keep your voice down.”

“Em... I don’t think I can promise that,” Otoya grinned awkwardly while glancing nervously at the door.

“What do you mean?”

A strong knock on the door ended their conversation. Tokiya sighed before lazily opened the door.

Natsuki, who was holding Cecil the Cat, along with another three guys were coming.

“Hi guys!” Otoya greeted back, happily.

“Otoya-kun, we come to...”

Natsuki paused as he could not believe his green eyes. His big body blocked the other STARISH members from entering the room.

“Oi, Natsuki!” and of course, Syo was the one who got easily annoyed.

“Tokiya-kun..” before he could approach and hug the blue head, Cecil the Black Cat was the first one who jumped into Tokiya’s arms.

“Waaaahh!” Tokiya shrieked before bringing the said animal to his eye level. “Is it yours, Shinomiya-san?”

“Er... not exactly,” Natsuki grinned awkwardly while struggling to keep his emotions stable as Tokiya, his late friend now stood right in front of him. Nevertheless, he stepped into the room, followed by Syo, Ren and Masato.

“What? What do you..” Tokiya was distracted as the black cat started licking his cheek. They could see how Tokiya the Walking Ice was suddenly flattered by the affection from the cute animal.

But much to his confusion...

“Ichinose, that’s... I mean, that’s..” Masato could not form right words as he felt disgusted and speechless at the same time. He pointed towards the cat with his shaking index finger but Tokiya apparently could not get the picture.

If Tokiya knew that the cat was...

A guy...

“Hey, stop licking him!” Syo could not stand the horror show so he decided to grab Cecil from Tokiya but the blue head just shook his head.

“It’s okay, Syo,” to their surprise, Tokiya’s face looks so loving and gentle when he played around with Cecil the cat. His usual cold face formed a chummy smile as two of the cat’s legs grabbed his finger before biting it affectionately (only in the eyes of Tokiya yet not for the others).

Masato, Syo, Ren: Ichinose/Tokiya/Icchi will faint if he knows the so-called cute cat is a guy.

Natsuki,Otoya: What a rare sight! Tokiya/Tokiya-kun looks cuter when he smiles like that.

“What are you guys looking at?” Tokiya’s stern question, followed by an icy expression sent them flinching.

“Nothing,” Masato shrugged. “By the way, Ichinose.. have you done your lyrics?” he asked randomly, out of nervousness and happiness.

“Not yet. Still brainstorming,”compared to others, for some reasons, Tokiya found that Masato is the only boy who he could talk with without feeling that his personal bubble is invaded. “How about yours?”

“Well.. I...” Masato quickly approached Tokiya. “I have a trouble with...”

And the conversation flew naturally, as you could expect from both the blue heads.

“I think Masa is the only person who can get close with Tokiya easily from the start,” Otoya commented as he felt happy to see this sight; STARISH were in the same place including Tokiya.

“You just realized that now, Ikki?” Ren smirked. “I think both Hijirikawa and Icchi always prefer to room together instead of with us.”

“Ehhh, is that so?” 

“But Ren.. I don’t think Otoya is the only one who only realized about that now,” Syo pointed at Natsuki who sticked his nose into the blue heads’ conversation.

Meanwhile, thanks to the natural flow of conversation, Masato managed to distract Tokiya from playing with Cecil the Cat. Still talking, Masato put the cat onto the floor before smacking its butt.

“Meow!” Cecil glared, mentally saying, ‘that was hurt!’.

“Why the hell did you act like a gay? Licking him like that..” Masato murmured angrily to Cecil.

At the same time, Tokiya and Natsuki continued talking about lyrics brainstorming.

“Eh, me? Well, when I look at hoshi-sama, pretty words will pop into my head, so all I need to do is remembering them.”

“Hoshi...sama?” Tokiya looked puzzled. He never thought that Natsuki’s answer would be this flowery.

“Yes, hoshi-sama.”

“You mean... those hoshi-sama?” Tokiya pointed at the window.

“Yes, those hoshi-sama.”

“Sounds... enthralling,” Tokiya answered with an awkward smile. ‘Is he joking? Is he being serious?’ expression was written all over his fair-skinned face.

The other three; Ren, Syo and Otoya just formed a relieved smile, feeling grateful for what God blessed them now. They could see Tokiya again. They could form a strong bond with Tokiya again after being separated by a tragic death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like what some of Utapri fanfic writers had stated, Tokiya is a hard character to write since.. maybe he is reserved and mysterious? I don't even know either he likes cats or not but for the sake of this story and his future interaction with Cecil, I made him a cat lover. And another thing, just like what you have read about Cecil the Cat, you sure can guess that this story will involve magic, right? I hope for the next chapters, I don't make the magical stuff too cringeworthy. Okay, enough with the blabbers. So, do you like this chapter? Feel free to comment on this story!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka's flashback about how Tokiya and her started to go out. (PART 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a flashback! I know it is not important and it will drag this story even longer but I have fun writing this filler and I hope you guys do as well.. Nevertheless, let's move on to Chapter 5!

CREDITS TO : UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

 

 **“Nowww,** you guys are allowed to dateeeee and get marrieeedd.”

Finally, those long-awaited words came out from Saotome’s mouth, much to their relief.

Back to their actual time zone which was before Tokiya married Haruka, as an idol, they were forced to accept the fact that they were not allowed to date for the sake of their fan base or to put in cheesier words, ‘everything about them belongs to their fans so no girls deserves to make them as their own’.

Yes, it was awful and tortured those seven hearts that already aimed a certain girl in the first place..

The same girl that has composed them not merely amazing songs but she gave them hopes when they were still trapped in their dark pasts. She is the one that they needed to spend the rest of their life with.

* * *

 

 **That** evening, after a random practice when they were supposed to enjoy their one-month vacation, Cecil brought up a topic; something that they knew, sooner or later, they needed to confront.

“Honestly, I already have someone that I am madly in love and want to go out with..”Cecil broke the silence among them.

“Nanami/Nanami-san/Little Lamb/Haru-chan,” the other STARISH members responded, flatly and in unison.

“Ehhh? How did you guys know?” Cecil was taken aback dramatically, making him look stupider than usual.

“In second episode of the second season, anime version, you confessed and even wanted to kiss her right in front of us. How the hell can we forget about it easily?” Masato’s deep voice always sounded creepier when the topic is about Haruka. He was no longer masked with his so-called collected face.

“But it’s not my fault if I want to say I love her so much,” Cecil snapped, especially when he noticed how strong the glares the other six gave to him. Much like six thunders with six different colours. “I am not like you, Masato. ‘I am connected to her through the bond of music’ my foot! That’s the cheesiest line that I’ve heard in my entire life. Shame on you!”

“Oi, why did you give the game away, you fool!?”

“I don’t remember about keeping your secret, Masato.”

“So, that’s what Aijima-san meant with ‘Hijirikawa san hid a massive feeling on the verge of exploding within himself’,” as expected from Tokiya who is an amazing actor, memorizing dialog is just a piece of cake for him.

“Ichinose, don’t just leap to the conclusion like that!”

“But, it’s true, right, Masa?” Otoya’s red eyes met the blue one. “You love Nanami too.”

“Wait, are we confessing our feelings right now?” Syo immediately felt high-strung as he could foresee where the heck this conversation would go.

“Honestly, I also like Nanami a lot. More than just a friend,” Otoya, with his red face, decided to be honest with everyone. He could not hold back anymore.

But what he got back from his friends was...

A sudden and super awkward silence.

“Eh, guys, what’s with the ‘just kill yourself’ aura!?”

“You and Cecil are basically the same, Otoya. You guys are way too expressive,” Syo remarked and with the way he stared at the guitarist, it was obviously an insult.

“Eh? Me, expressive? What do you mean, Syo? I don’t even confess..”

“But you blushed too often everytime you wanted to say something to her.That explains a lot, Ikki,” Ren smirked, followed by a strong nod from others which was enough to make Otoya’s face got redder than his hair.

“Ehhh? When did I...”

“ Come to think of it, you are right, Ren-kun! Otoya-kun obviously has a huge crush on Haru-chan. Do you remember, Otoya-kun? In the second episode of the first season, anime version, you blushed when you met her eyes during the recording for our first assignment!”

“Yes, that one!” the other five heads automatically shouted while pointing right at Otoya.

“W..What? how did you guys...”

“It’s broadcasted by our school tv station, Otoya. The whole school actually could see your red face,” Tokiya sighed heavily, could not believe just how oblivious his roommate could be.

“So, Icchi, the Ice Prince at that time bothered to watch Ikki’s recording too? Did you also feel jealouse about Ikki liking Little Lamb? I still remember how the sky became so dark on that day,” Ren raised his eyebrow, much to the blue head’s annoyance.

“I am not...”

“Well, I think the way Otoya-kun always supports Haru-chan is so cute!” Natsuki acted like a cheerleader for the couple, contrasted with the fact that he also loved Haruka.

“Masato also supported Haruka a lot. He even taught her how to play piano again with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star song..” Cecil also sounded like a cheerleader for Masato yet in fact, he just provoked the blue head, knowing how Masato would rather die than revealing the secret.

“Shut up!”Masato shouted, enough to make the others flinched before they could even react to the top secret of Masato (except Ren because he used to see another pissed off version of Masato a few times before). “More importantly, how the hell did you know that!?”

“I was a cat, you silly,” Cecil made a proud face. “I sneaked into the music room before you know it.”

“Omae!”

“Ma, ma, don’t fight, Masa, Cecil... It’s all in the past already. It’s supposed to be something that we should cherish,” Otoya patted the said boys’ shoulders, trying to calm them down. “Well, speaking of supporters, Ren is also the good one. He helped Nanami to persuade the security guards on the entrance exam day.”

“I think it’s the other way around. Nanami has been a veeeeery good supporter for this doofus by breaking sweat, searching for the lyrics,” Syo clicked his tongues, could not really hide his annoyance about how Ren used to be a troublemaker back then. “You should be grateful because there is a nice girl like her who wanted to help you like that, you playboy.”

“Hai, hai,” Ren rolled his eyes playfully. “I already planned to reward her with my love and passion... Just wait and see..” the long-haired boy directly challenged every single person in the training room to compete in winning Haruka’s heart.

“Ren-kun is also cool!” Natsuki played his role again, being all upbeat when the others could not sit still. Not after they knew there were more of them loved the same girl.

“What’s with your attitude, Natsuki? It’s not like you don’t have feeling to Nanami,” Syo sighed while crossing his arms. “The fact that you always try to hug her makes me sick.”

“I do love Haru-chan. She’s just like my adorable Elizabeth,” Natsuki grinned to the thought of both Haruka and his dog. “Syo-chan also loves Haru-chan, right? Waaaaa, the thought of having to compete with Syo-chan to win Haru-chan makes me thrilled already. Syo-chan, I’ll never lose to you. Even you gave her your precious hat in season 2, anime version, saying that you wanted to protect her all the time, already tried to confess to her with your movie script in the first episode of season 3, anime version, I will definitely beat you.”

“How the hell did you know all that, you creepy stalker!!?”

“But you still have to beat us, Natsuki. Including me, I will win Haruka. I want her to be mine,” Cecil suddenly stood up when he clearly did not need to while clenching his fist.

“Yes, I am all fired up!” Syo also did exactly the same like Cecil.

“Then, if every single of us decided to go out with Little Lamb, I think we should spend our vacation wisely. Kaichou already gave us a month after those pile of work so I guess, good luck with your confession, you guys,” Ren waved at his teammates, as a symbol that no matter how hard they tried to win Haruka, he would be the winner for sure.

“Then, if we are going to take a long break, why the hell did we practice like a lunatic just now? Aren’t we supposed to rest and prepare for our vacation instead?” Syo finally pointed out something that they should realize from the start.

And suddenly, the huge room became downright silent.

“Ah, it’s Tokiya! Tokiya forced us to practice!” Otoya answered while giving accusing look to his roommate.

“Excuse me?” Tokiya raised his eyebrow, enough to send chill down to his roommate’s spine. “I didn’t say anything about group practice. I just wanted to dance for my upcoming song when you guys suddenly tagged along and started dancing.”

“You still think about work, Tokiya? You should get yourself a rest already,” Syo expressed his concern, knowing just how workaholic the dark blue head could be.

“Or perhaps... you are thinking about Haruka as well,” Cecil frowned. “Either we like it or not, Tokiya does have a very special place in her heart. She is his fan in the first place and she wants to be a composer because of him.”

“So, if it was not because of Ichinose, we never met Nanami and STARISH would never be formed,” Masato added, received nods from others except Tokiya.

“Haru-chan always had her eyes on Tokiya-kun when we still studied. But for some reasons, she still picked all of us,” Natsuki brought up the question that should not be one anymore.

“It’s because she thinks that we can be the best idols if we perform together. As simple as that,” Tokiya answered flatly before preparing to leave. “I will leave first.”

“How long do you intend to keep that cold attitude, Icchi?” Ren interrupted. They could feel a tension in the room again. “You pretend you don’t care about this stuff when in fact, I can see how much you love Little Lamb. Why can’t you just be honest with yourself?”

“Wait, what? To...Tokiya also loves Nanami?” Otoya flinched when the others gave him ‘what? you dont know about it and you call yourself his roommate?’ look. “But.. but guys, everytime I ask him about it, he would either ignore or ask me to shut up instead. Moreover, this is Tokiya we are talking about. It’s hard to tell when he shows his poker face all the time.”

“Yeah, Otoya kinda got a point there,” Syo rubbed his chin as a sign of agreement.

“You love Haruka as much as we love her, right, Tokiya?” Cecil still insisted to know after realizing that Tokiya was the only one who remained mysterious about his feeling.

“Does it change anything if I do love her? I don’t think it matters,” with a question that made them speechless, Tokiya left the room.

“Did he decide to go to Australia because he wants to take a break from thinking about Nanami?” Otoya’s question shocked the others.

“Probably,” Masato agreed.

* * *

 

 **“Ichinose-san,** to tell you the truth, since we worked together, I cannot take my eyes off you. I want you to know what I feel about you all this time. Ichinose-san, I love you. Will you go out with me?”

The confession that he got from his co-star after he had done his work still fulfilled his mind as he walked alone along the corridor.Unexpectedly,Yuma Risa, a gorgeous actress that was said to be the match from heaven of him by their fans loves him. Yet, when Haruka’s image appeared in his eyes as Risa slowly leaned to kiss him, he realized something.

No matter how hard he denied, no matter how far he ran away, his love to Nanami Haruka grew stronger day by day. He just could not live without her...

Which led him to stop Risa before gently rejecting her. He did not want to give her a fake hope when he himself already chose which girl that won his heart all this time.

The answer is still Nanami Haruka.

But the question was, did he really have to confess to her when Haruka has made it clear that she only admired his singing? So, it was obvious that she would reject his feeling. So far, he could tell that the girl is someone who would rather focus on her career since she loves music so much. Music is the only thing that made him attractive to her. His song, Nanairo no Compass is the single factor why she became a hard-core fan of Hayato in the first place.

It’s all about songs.... every single time...

Not to mention, compared to the other six, he was cold and insolent to her back in school. He even told Haruka that she was a nuisance right in her face when she genuinely cared about him.

According to her, he is the reason why she wants to start composing songs but the real bunch of people who were always there beside her, supported her...

The other STARISH members. They loved her before he loves her...

And maybe way deeper and stronger than him...

One of them deserved to get her love. Anyone but him...

So, he decided to keep his feeling by himself. He did not want the others to treat him as other rival.

As long as he knew how great they would be as her future partner, that was enough for him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Out of the blue, his eyes served the sight of a petite girl walked along the corridor by herself from his opposite direction.

* * *

 

 **Haruka** walked slowly as her mind could not pay attention to her surrounding.

Not after she already received six confessions since three days ago.

That was too much for her. It managed to make her sleepless just like when all of them (except Cecil) chose her as their partner for graduation but this time, it got worse. At least, back then, she could choose all of them even it took a lot efforts for them to convince Saotome. But now..

There was no way for her to choose all of them. She needed to choose only one. In front of them, she said she needed time to think yet in fact...

She was not sure about herself. All this time, she has been a cheerleader and good friend of STARISH. If she chose one of them, did that mean she would ruin their friendship?

But, all of them said that...

“It doesn’t matter who you will choose. We already swear that there will be no offence.”

When she was about to hit her head to the wall out of dilemma, her golden eyes caught a tall figure with a midnight blue hair, walking from opposite direction.

And unexpectedly, it made her heart beating faster.

“Ichi.. Ichinose san...” she gasped as the said boy smiled chummily at her.

“Good evening, Nanami-san,” his greet alone was enough to make her heart flattered.

“Good... good evening.”

The sight of Tokiya pulling a luggage caught her attention.

“Do you still have to work, Ichinose-san? I though that president gave you guys a long break.”

“I already finished with my work. I am on the way to take a vacation to Australia.”

“Owhh... I don’t know that,” her eyes widened as the news hit her. “For how long?”

“For the whole break.”

Ehhh, it’s weird. Why do I feel like I don’t want him to go? Why do I feel like begging him to stay here instead?

“Why do you have to go there for that long?” she could not help but asking him for the sake of her own curiosity.

“Eh, why?”

“Ah, it’s okay. You don’t need to answer that. I am sorry for being such a busybody when you clearly want to spend your private time by yourself,” Haruka spoke too fast, much to Tokiya’s amazement.

“It’s okay, Nanami-san. Honestly, rather than spending my private time on my own, I want to spend it with her instead. If only she reciprocates my feeling...” He mumbled.

“Eh?”

“Eh? No, I mean.. Well, I think you also should take a break like going overseas or something. You look worn out,” he pointed out randomly in order to hide the fact that he was this close in confessing his feeling to Haruka but it was enough for her to give full vent to her dilemma.

“Is it that obvious? Do I look that worn out, Ichinose-san?”

Tokiya’s smile faded away. “So, you do have problem. Saw that coming.”

She nodded helplessly.

“What’s wrong, Nanami-san? Is it about your work again?” his voice totally expressed his concern, making her feel something that was so hard to describe.

More than a warmness. There was this strange feeling which kept crawling across her spine everytime she talked to Tokiya about her problem.

What is that called again?

“No. I... actually I...” she could feel the need of relying on Tokiya grew faster than ever. “The other STARISH members asked me to go out with them.”

Tokiya’s eyes widened a bit. The usual expression that would be formed over his calm face everytime there is something triggers him.

So, they already made a move on Nanami-san, didn’t they? He smiled bitterly when his heart shattered into pieces.

Well, serves you right, Tokiya. You can just confess to her like they did, you dimwit!

“Really? Wow, that was fast. So..what did you say to them?”

“I want to do some thinking...” her beautiful-shoujo-female-lead face suddenly turned into a cute chibi face with tears strolled down her cheeks. “But I feel confused right now, Ichinose-san. If I choose only one, I will automatically make the others upset. What should I do, Ichinose san!? Please help me!!”

How about... choosing me instead? Yes, it still broke their hearts but at least, it will solve your dilemma, he mentally threw a joke before cursing himself to be that cruel.

Again, he did not deserve a nice girl like Haruka when she already had six nice guys who would lover her unconditionally.

Out of the blue, his brain suddenly came up with a strategy to help Haruka. A strategy that would hurt his heart more but at least, at the end, he could help Haruka from keeping herself on the horns of dilemma.

“I will try to help you. Now, first and foremost, put your hand on your chest.”

“Eh? Why?” she placed her delicate hand to her chest baffledly but she decided to rely on him as her last resort.

“I want you to answer my questions while monitoring your heartbeat. Maybe.. Just maybe I can help you solving your predicament. Do you want to give it a shot, Nanami-san?”

“Hm.. Yeah, I guess.”

“Em.. you don’t have to answer me. Just do it in your mind, okay?”

Or to be more exact, I really don’t want to hear from your own mouth, whoever he is...

“Okay.”

“Good. Now, first question.. out of those guys, do you have someone that you can’t help but particularly have your eyes on him?”

Yes. Out of those guys... No, she meant... out of those guys and Tokiya, when they were still the students of Saotome Academy, she had her eyers on Tokiya since their first encounter where she mistook him for Hayato. Since then, even the used-to-be-remote guy kept insisting that he was Hayato’s twin brother, she still could sense the same aura emitting from him. Her attention to him got more obvious after she learned the truth and why Tokiya decided to stop becoming Hayato. At that time, she really concerned about the guy who introduced her with the beautiful side of music.

That was all the reasons.

Or.. not?

“When you bump into him, do you feel like... ah, it is not about his charm or look that makes you feel warm but his presence alone is enough to make you think that no matter how hard the problems you will go through, you are positive that you can surpass it?”

Her golden orbs suddenly stared blankly at Tokiya. It was not because she did not get the question. In fact, the answer registered so fast that she began to feel dubious about her brain and heart welfare.

What’s wrong with my brain? Why did it only serve the image of Ichinose-san? Is it because Ichinose-san is standing right in front of me? And.. what’s wrong with my heart? It beat.. faster. No, it can’t be. Dear my brain, you are supposed to imagine the guy whose presence is enough to make me feel warm! Not Ichinose-san!

Or is he the guy? Is he the answer that I am looking for?

“Do you feel like... this guy.. 'I want to make him mine. I don’t want to lose him to somebody else'.”

Well, come to think of it, when I came across a big poster of Ichinose-san and Yuma Risa-san for their upcoming movie...

The endearing face of hers suddenly turned red to the point of you do not need to be a genius to guess what she was thinking.

Why it kept generating Ichinose-san’s image? Why is it thumping so fast? Why? Why? It would be embarrassing if he knew who the heck was she thinking about!

When she tried to make an eye contact with Tokiya, the gorgeous blue eyes of his gave the sign that he could guess what was she thinking.

She never knew that beneath the cool face, Tokiya was struggling to control himself from being dissappointed as he could guess that she was this close to solve her dilemma.

“But at the same time, you feel like, this wonderful guy.. I don’t deserve him. He deserves somebody better than me.. I am nothing compared to him..”

Yes, I did think about that. Compared to Ichinose-san, I am just...

Wait... why is it Tokiya again?

“These days, you think that his happiness is your happiness. And to make him smiles, you will do anything for him. Am I right?”

As she listened to that question, Tokiya knew that Haruka already found the answer, enough from the way she looked at him.

The golden eyes suddenly looked full of love.

Guys, Nanami-san already chose someone in her mind. Whoever you are, congratulations.

“Ichi.. Ichinose-san, for all those questions that you asked me, all the answers are still the same. There is this particular person who suddenly keeps appearing in my mind.”

“Well, most probably you have already fallen in love with him without you know it.”

“You think so?” she asked nervously.

He smiled softly before placing his big hand onto her orange head. He stroked it slowly as an attempt to comfort her.

Yet, he never knew that the comfort from him meant something else for the composer. She just could not describe it with words, especially when her heart continued to pound like crazy.

“No worries,” again, with a sweet smile, he assured her even the thought of her actually could determine who she has truly loved all this time was like a stab in his heart. “Just follow your heart because your heart always knows the best choice for you. Don’t make it hard to yourself. After all...”

He inhaled deeply, mentally convinced himself to be calm and ready to move on from the girl who he was madly in love with.

“It doesn’t matter who will you choose, we will accept it willingly. Trust me.”

Haruka’s eyes widened. Why did Ichinose san include himself when he said they would accept her choice from the bottom of their hearts? Could it be...

No, Haruka. You are not such a hot chick that all STARISH members will love you. It must be at least one or two members that feels indifferent towards you and the indifferent one is...

Ichinose Tokiya.

But for some reasons, it felt hurt.

“I am sorry. I have to go. I am already late for my flight. See you soon, Nanami-san.”

“See you soon.”

As he left her in the middle of the corridor, she felt the urge to see the smile of him again.

A cold breeze suddenly blew towards her. She sneezed, stopping him from leaving her.

“I need to go back to my room. This is too cold,” Haruka mumbled as she was about to head to her room.

Out of the blue, she felt a soft fabric wrapped around her slim body. She turned around, a bit shocked when Tokiya’s stunning face was just an inch from hers.  
“Take this or you will catch a cold,” he smiled chummily.

“Ichinose-san..”

Their faces were just too close, which maybe led Tokiya to hug her tightly.

“I love you, Nanami-san. See you next month,” his mouth suddenly let out something that his heart has felt and really wanted to confess before he walked away from her.

Haruka remained stiff on her spot while her eyes continued looking at Tokiya until he was no longer in her sight.

She felt his warmth from the black jacket he gave her. She felt insanely thrilled when she was embraced. Not to mention...

I love him! The answer for all those questions is him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is it, guys? Is it cheesy? I purposely posted this chapter this soon because I want to complete with this story as soon as possible (considering that I want to start with my next story, also as soon as possible). I will post the next chapter veeery soon. And about the characters, I am sorry if Tokiya and Haruka looked out of character. First, because in anime,Tokiya didn't even try to confess his feeling to Haruka and I don't play any utapri games yet so I don't know what will be the suitable way for a stoic like him to confess. Second, Haruka is suddenly bold with Tokiya considering that's her attitude when it comes to music.. she will strive so hard until she achieves her goal. I hope what I wrote about her does make sense.. So, review?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka's flashback about how Tokiya and her started to go out. (PART 2)

CREDITS TO : UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

 

 **Maybe** it sounded pathetic,dramatic and disgusting but...

The truth was Tokiya lied to Haruka about being late. In fact, he had at least two hours before his flight.

Yet, he chose to wait like an idiot in the middle of this public place, with his status as a celebrity and risky disguise because he did not feel like staying in the dorm for too long.

Not after he knew that his teammates were enthusiastic to win Haruka’s heart.

Even he did not show any interest to join them but he also felt the pressure.

So, to cool off his mind as well as giving himself a rest, he decided to take a break abroad.

He hoped after the vacation, even he received news like;

  1. Haruka chose Otoya and they were already engaged.
  2. Haruka chose Masato but their relationship was opposed by the blue head’s father.
  3. Haruka chose Ren but they immediately broke up because Ren was still a womanizer...



Those news would not hurt him.

After a few minutes, he already felt bored stiff as he could not use his smartphone to kill the time (another ‘wise’ act since he did not want anybody to contact him just to inform that Haruka already chose someone). A perfectionist like him absolutely hated this kind of time-consuming situation without doing anything beneficial.

“Ichinose-san!”

Tokiya jumped a bit, nervously looking around for the voice who rashly called him out when he was in a desperate disguise. Right in front of him, the girl of his dream ran towards him, making him spontaneously stood up from his seat out of shock.

“Na... Nanami-san?” he rubbed his eyes as an attempt to stop his brain from hallucinating about Haruka but to no avail. Instead, the image of her became clearer and larger....

Before stopping herself from bumping into him.

“Ichi.. Ichinose-san... Thank God, I found you,” the petite girl struggled to catch her breath.

“Nanami-san, why are you here?”

“I am.. I am looking for you, Ichinose-san.”

“Why?”

“Why did you switch off your phone?”

“Well, I...”

“I want to tell you something, Ichinose-san...” he could see the determination from the golden eyes.

But for what, though?

“Nanami-san, my flight..”

“Don’t lie to me!” she suddenly shouted as an ultra frustration empowered her. “Ittoki-kun told me that your flight still has two hours to go.”

“Ehh? Well...” Tokiya could not give any wiser excuse as his mind was busy cursing his roommate for being such a big mouth. “Well, back to our topic, what do you...”

“I don’t want you to go to Australia... If you still want to do so, you must take me as well...”

What the...

“Nanami san, I only bought one ticket and I believe all the tickets have being sold out...” he tried to come up with an excuse but..

“We can go tomorrow!” she totally could not accept any such from him. “Or next day or whenever but you can’t go without me!”

“But why!?” Tokiya asked, hoping that when he shouted, it would not fall on deaf ears again. Haruka’s randomness was so random and his brain could not manage to absorb it all. “Why all of sudden...”

“Ichinose-san...”she approached him before cupping his face, “After all this time, you do love me, right? Your confession just now... it was sincere, right?”

Damn! My big mouth! He totally forgot that he already confessed to Haruka.

“You know what, Ichinose-san? After the confession, you should wait for my answer first because....” she inhaled deeply before throwing out words that almost made Tokiya passed out.“To tell you the truth, when you asked me those questions in order to help me, it is only you that keeps appearing in my mind.”

“Excuse me?”

“All those questions... untill the last question, my head keeps thinking about you. My heart beats faster when you are around so what else does it mean, Ichinose-san?”

“How should I know? That’s your head and heart... Why do you ask me...”

Haruka sighed in frustration. This guy could be stupid sometimes. But, it was not his fault, though. If he quickly got that he was the one who stole her heart, it sounded like he was full of himself.  

“I love you, Ichinose-san. I want to be the partner of your life. I want to be your Miss Ichinose, Ichinose Tokiya!”

Tokiya’s blue eyes widened while staring at hers. He continued to be like that for a while until it managed to draw the composer’s concern.

“Ichinose-san, are you alright?” Haruka patted his cheek softly.

“I.. I am okay. It just that..” he finally could talk. “Nanami-san, everyone is looking at us.”

That was when she remembered that she just confessed to an insanely popular idol with a huge fan base. Tokiya’s undercover was perfect but ruined by Haruka’s loud and dramatic voice.

And that was when she cursed herself for being too moronic. People started to snap pictures of the couple. They even formed a circle around them, much to Haruka and Tokiya’s panic.

“Emm... I...” her mind totally went blank before a big hand grabbed hers.

“Follow me.”

* * *

 

 **_Cecil :_ ** _Our fan pages are going crazy! Kaichou is looking for you, Tokiya!_

_Masato : Ichinose, for someone who is secretive about his personal life, you sure made a good controversy for yourself. But, still, congratulations, though.._

_Otoya : Tokiya, congratulations for being the one who can go out with Nanami! *insert grinning emoticon ! But where are you? Do you still go to Australia? *insert wondering emoticon_

_Syo : Oi! You better take an insanely good care of her. If you make her cry, you will be a dead meat! *insert four skulls-typed emoticons_

_Natsuki : Tokiya-kun, congratulations! I can’t believe you also confessed to Haru-chan! You are so cool,Tokiya-kun! *insert emoticion with love- shaped eyes._

_Ren : Icchi *insert sighing emoticon, you should tell me from the start that you also love Little Lamb. I always ready to give you good ‘advices’ though.._

Tokiya frowned at the messages from his teammates before putting his handphone into his jeans pocket. Nevertheless, he still felt grateful because they were being such supportive friends.

“So, where are we?” Tokiya smiled as he turned his attention to Haruka. She seemed lost and not bold like before.

After successfully escaping from Tokiya’s fans, they quickly found a taxi and went back to the dorm. To avoid others from coming across them, they decided to sit together in a gazebo.

“I... to be honest, I...” her hands started shaking like crazy.

To her surprise, he held her hand before squeezing it gently.

“It’s okay. Now, there is no one here. I will be the only one who listen to whatever you want to tell me..”

“But I think it’s much more embarrassing when there are just two of us..” Haruka did not even have guts to look straight into the blue eyes. She just felt nervous.

“Oh yeah? Why?”

“Because there are two of us...”

“And?”

“Because it’s you.”

“Because I was Hayato? Or by chance, do you still see me as Hayato instead of Tokiya?”

“No, I am not!” the girl spontaneously shouted before eventually looking straight into the blue orbs. “Just like how I used to say back then in the island, no matter you are Ichinose Tokiya or Hayato, you are the reason why I love music. You are my inspiration and you are the one who made me into who I am right now. But, that’s not my point. Rather than being stuck in your fandom, I want to be someone who will share everything with you including my past, my present and my future because... I love you, Ichinose san!”

They remained silent for God knows how long. The one who was supposed to give response alias Tokiya was just in a pause mode.

“Can you repeat it?” he cupped her tiny face while smiling delightedly. “I just want to make sure that my brain did not misinterpret...”

“I love you,” Haruka responded by stroking his blue hair. “I may sound dense but I love you since a long time ago but I always misinterpreted my feeling as an admiration due to you being Hayato. But just now, when you comforted me, you gave me your jacket, you walked away from me, your confession.. not to mention your questions just now.. every single thing about you made my heart skip a beat. I just don’t want you to leave me...”

“That’s.. perhaps you also want to go to Australia. You should say that from the start.”

“No, I don’t mean like that!” Haruka pouted, bringing laughter to the idol. Now she knew how frustrating it was when you had to deal with someone dense.

Now she could relate to other STARISH members who also said that she was dense (particularly Cecil, Syo and Ren) just about an hour ago because she was so oblivious with affections that all of them expressed to her including Tokiya....

“Okay, okay. I am sorry. I am just joking,” his cheeky expression suddenly turned loving and it melted her heart. “I am just so surprised and happy to hear your confession, Nanami-san. Only God knows how much I wait for this moment to happen... the moment when you finally reciprocate my feeling to you. You know what? All those questions that I asked you just now... it’s actually what I feel about you.. all this time.”

“Se..seriously?” her heart fluttered so much upon knowing the truth. She could feel that her love to him grew more and more.

“Yes,” he stroked her silky hair while his eyes never left hers. “You are that someone who I can’t help but particularly have my eyes on. Everytime I see you, your presence alone is enough to make me think that no matter how hard the problems I will go through, I have this confidence that I can surpass it. I really want to make you mine. I don’t want to lose you to somebody else but at the same time, I feel like, Nanami Haruka.. I don’t deserve her. She deserves somebody better than me.. I am nothing compared to her.. So I must prioritize her happiness over my happiness. And to make her smiles, I will do anything for her even though it means giving up on her.”

Haruka never thought that she would fall for Tokiya this much.

“But now...” He kissed both her cheeks before embracing her tightly as he could not surpress his feeling anymore, making the girl a bit shocked with his sudden affection when in fact, he is the symbol of a stoic with lack of skinship among STARISH members.

Well, he is the type of guy who shows his true and loving side to someone who is meant to stay by his side as his family so it did make sense when Haruka was the only one who could see this side of him.

“Ichinose-san, I don’t know that you are someone who can initiate a skinship like this,” she muffled as she was pulled closer to his chest.

“Only with you and it is because I love you, Nanami-san. I swear, after this, I will be the best man for you. I will protect you and I will even sacrifice my life for you if the situation asks for it.. Thank you, Nanami-san. Thank you for loving me back.”

* * *

 

 **He** fulfilled his promise after all. Tokiya never lied to me, Haruka smiled bitterly while staring at Tokiya who was now queueing to buy some foods for his lunch while recalling their precious memory. Compared to the moment when he officially became her boyfriend, Tokiya currently looked much colder and scarier. You never guessed that this antisocial lad actually could be loving and sweet to his wife to the point of protecting her from being killed.

From the way he looked so aloof with everyone who tried to talk to him either because they were besotted with his good look or because he is so-called Hayato’s twin brother, Haruka could tell that he had so much troubles to burden all by himsef to even bother to entertain any of them.

And the troubles included his packed schedule, his unstable constitution, his stress to put up with his persona a.k.a Hayato, his long-lasting family conflicts and many more.

To make those fangirls giving up, Tokiya focused on reading an English novel while waiting for his turn before his eyes served the sight of a letter in the book. He took it up to his eye level while staring at it in disbelief.

Oh my God! He is reading the letter! Haruka blushed even redder. Since last week, she sneaked a letter to Tokiya. She normally put it under his table or in his locker but this time around, she knew the moment he read the English novel, it meant Tokiya or Hayato would play a role from the movie version of the novel so she just wanted to cheer him up. She wanted him to know that there was someone out there who would support him.

 _Ne,_ Tokiya. I already met the 17 years old version of you. I could not control my excitement so I hugged and kissed your cheek in the midst of everyone.We almost got expelled by the principal. I know I should behave but I miss you so much. I am so glad because I can touch you again, her heart whispered in melancholy when suddenly someone tapped her arm.

It was Tomochika. Haruka instantly blushed as she realized she was caught red-handed.

That was rude, Haruka! You have these loyal friends around you but all you did was staring at the guy who did not even bother to look at you. Now, time to avert your gaze, she slowly turned her body so that she could face them.  

“Nanami, I know you miss him but it willl be better if you don’t make it too obvious,” Syo reminded her, seriously.

“Eh?”

“His crazy fangirls, Nakamura and her friends just stared at you like they are going to strangle you, you know. I think they realize about your attention to Tokiya especially since the day you hugged him,” Otoya continued as worries all written over his face. His red eyes glanced at the said trio who also queued to grab some foods.

Nakamura Yuna, Tanaka Naomi and Ashu Mizuki. The trio from A Class apparently had a huge crush on Tokiya and had a habit of glaring any girls who boldly approached the cold guy. 

“Well, Lady, I hate to say this, but I had eavesdropped on some group of girls or to be particular, the A Class trio and sadly, they all talked bad about you. Saying something like you are a slut or something...” Ren’s words were cut by an unexpectedly strong slam from a pairs of petite hands on the table. 

“Wait, that’s not fair! Why do they behave in such cliched way like in some _shoujo anime_? Who do they think they are to glare at me just because I stared at someone who could never be theirs? He is mine to begin with!” as she got emotional with the thought of those fangirls who acted like some skanks, claiming that her husband was theirs, an awkward and downright silence surrounded the cafetaria as her voice volume got louder.

To make it worse, Haruka’s finger was pointing straight to Tokiya, who like the others, was gobsmacked.

“Nanami, I know you want to try to act but that’s not the right way to express your emotion,” Masato quickly covered for her before kicking Syo’s leg who sat right beside him.

“Auch! Hijirikawa, what do you think you are... Eh? I mean, y..yes, Hijirikawa is right. You are supposed to be more aggressive because you play a role as someone whose boyfriend was stolen so you need to be like hell hath no fury,” Syo winced in pain while letting out any random lines so that he could cover for the dense Haruka.

“Or if you read between the lines, you should imitate _Ochibi-chan_ since he acts so grumpy all the time,” Ren successfully gave a final shot as Syo quickly snapped at him, causing the other students now paid attention to Ren and Syo’s petty fight.

Haruka slowly returned to her seat while mentally cursing herself. Why could not she behave when it comes to Tokiya?

She did not realize that she was stared intently by somebody with a pair of blue eyes.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! Let me know what you think, okay? Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka initiated a plan to get closer with Tokiya. STARISH was determined to start over with their respective partners.

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA (and Free!)

“This is the list of your name and your partner. Kindly refer to here and I hope you enjoy creating a beautiful music for your second assignment,” Hyuga Ryuya, the homeroom teacher for S Class pointed towards the list that he already attached on the notice board.  

“Em... Jinguji san...” Ren could hear a familiar voice, calling him shyly. “I am looking to working with you.”

It was Maaya, his wife.

Ah, come to think of it.. she was my partner for the second assignment.

Maaya was just like Haruka. A goody-two-shoes with a shy and polite attitude. She put on minimal make-up, which for some reasons, made her natural beauty shone. Her dark purple hair looked soft on her shoulders. And also for some reasons, unlike with other girls, the ex-womanizer did not feel like flirting with her.

Well, perhaps, it was because he felt bad for not being a good husband for her. he even loved another woman instead of her.

Maybe this was a good chance for him to learn more about Maaya. Maybe this time around, he could start over with her.

“Me too,” he gave her a serene smile, enough to make other girls squealed out of jealousy and admiration while Maaya...

She just blushed and nodded timidly before turning to her front and to be honest, unlike after their marriage when he felt ignorant about everything related to Maaya, but now...

“Look at the bitch! She makes me sick already.”

“Yeah, me too. A plain girl like her does not suit Jinguji-sama at all.”

Wait! Just what Maaya did to make those skanks feeling sick already? She just greeted him for the God sake!

Their insult to Maaya quickly got into his last nerve as he eavesdropped on their conversation.

“Yeah. Does she think Jinguji-sama will fall in love with her if they are partners for this petty assignment? How pathetic!”

How come those bitches called Maaya a bitch when it was clear that she did not ask to be his partner in the first place?

Call him eccentric but out of the blue, he felt the instinct to protect Maaya grew stronger.

“Well, Lady-tachi, don’t be sad. You still have the graduation audition to choose me as your partner. Please behave and I will pick anyone of you,” his interruption made those girls silent immediately while the other fans squealed again out of excitement.

Well, this time around, I will let it slide.

“Good for you, dude. You got your own wife as your partner,” Syo, who sat in front of him just smirked to the scion but Ren knew, the small guy was just being sarcastic, considering how volatile their marriage was.

“Maybe this is a good chance for me to... love her..” Ren smiled bitterly, much to Syo’s surprise. It was rare to see the high school version of Ren said something so sincere and dramatic like that.

 “Wait! You mean, all this time, you never love her?” Syo was obviously in shock but he was still being rational by keeping his voice down. “I mean.. you don’t have any slight interest in her? You know what? All this time, I thought that you love her, considering how you treasured her...”

“I guess.. Hijirikawa does not spill the beans, huh?”

“I think he is the most reliable friend when it comes to keep a secret especially yours and you should know that better than anyone, Ren,” Syo rolled his eyes out of irritation, gaining himself a chuckle from Ren.

“It’s hard you know... when you already had your eye on somebody for quite some time, you are so devoted to her but it ended up you getting married out of family arrangement while the girl.. she ended up marrying someone else which happens to be your own friend . It’s like... can’t the fate get any crueler?”

“What do you..”

“Come on, _Ochibi-chan_... don’t play dumb with me. I know all this time, you never found a girlfriend because you cannot forget our Little Lamb. Well, it’s surprising when you are always being the one who acts tough but at the end, you are the one who still cannot move on from her,” the smirk from Ren made Syo blushed. The small boy was about to yell at the ex-playboy before ..

“Okay, guys! Settle down. We are going to start our class now. You can discuss with your partner after this.”

“Okay!” 

Ren was about to take his book out of his bag (it sounded out of character when he, Jinguji Ren actually bothered to learn seriously in class instead of twirling a rose but his mind is the adult Ren afterall. He no longer likes to slack off) when he saw Tokiya, who was always in his own little world, staring at a paper in his hand.

“What are you doing, Icchi? Reading love letters from your fans?” Ren’s question made Syo turned to the blue head.

“It’s none of your business,” the perfectionist remarked coldly as he kept the letter into his book but Syo managed to take a glance at the handwriting.

‘It’s from Nanami,’ Syo mouthed, gaining himself a chuckle from Ren.  

Meanwhile, for the first time in his life as a student, Tokiya could not pay attention to whatever Hyuga was blabbering on as his mind was distracted by the letter. Yes, he received a pile of letters from his fans lately but there was a few letters which he believed, from the same person, that caught his attention...

In an atrocious way.

_Good luck for your part- time job today! You should smile more and enjoy yourself. Hey, being happy-good-lucky like Ittoki-kun is not bad, you know!_

            _I know you miss singing so much. Don’t worry. Sooner or later, you will able to sing without being overshadowed by your ‘brother’ anymore. Ganbatte, Ichinose-san!_

_Please take care of your health, Ichinose-san! You look pale and I believe you don’t eat your breakfast today. That’s not good, Ichinose-san. You can’t just skip your breakfast too often.You have a packed shedule every single day so your body needs more energy_

How did this nameless letter sender knew he had a ‘part-time job’ when even Otoya, his roommate did not know about that? How did this person know that he missed singing so much?

Speaking of singing...

_Sooner or later, you will able to sing without being overshadowed by your ‘brother’ anymore._

_‘Brother’._

There were apostrophes there. Why, though?

Somebody in this school knew about he being Hayato all this time. He was positive with that.

 

**In** the afternoon, STARISH members, Haruka and Tomochika were discussing again.

“To make Cecil talk normally, we need to...” Otoya gave a look to Haruka before receiving a nod from her.

“We need to break the curse,” Haruka looked at each of her friends.“You guys need to sing 1000% Maji Love so that Cecil-san can transform into a human again.”

“This is so absurd but I guess we don’t have choices, right?” Syo gave an instant glare to Cecil the Cat who also gave an instant response alias sticking his tongue cheekily. It seemed like aggravating hot tempered guys like Syo and Masato were one of his hobbies.

“Shall we sing, then? Our lunch break will finish soon,” Masato reminded them before receiving strong nods from everyone.

“Okay, guys. One.. two.. three..” Tomochika gave a cue before the sky was mesmerized by the said song.

The song that meant to be their debut song. The song that united all of them. The song that gave them a hope to achieve their dream.

Even each of them could not help but thinking that their harmony did not sound as good as it should be.

At the end of the day, their dedication to sing the song was to no avail since Cecil the Cat was still in his cat mode. No transformation at all.

It took a while for them to finally register the truth before..

“Ehhhh!!!???”

Blending their voices together in such a cliched and dramatic way (the tone that you always find in anime).

“Why!!?” Otoya rubbed his eyes with the hope that his eyes went crazy for a few seconds yet the image of Cecil the Cat was still the same.

“Is it just me or Cecil-kun is still a cat? Is there something wrong with my glasses, Syo-chan? Should I clean it?” Natsuki was about to take off his glasses when the traumatized Syo shoved it back onto his nose.

“Don’t you ever do that, you crazy monster!” Syo was desperately in need for oxygen as the thought of Satsuki appeared right in front of them crossed his mind. Even though Satsuki never showed up since Natsuki’s duet project with Nagi from Heavens, Syo tended to give spontaneous and alarmed reactionss everytime Natsuki wanted to take off his glasses.

“Cecil-san, why..” Haruka’s golden eyes grew wide but like the others, she could not understand what Cecil the Cat tried to answer her.

“Maybe we messed up somewhere..” Otoya gave an awkward smile but he was positive that they should try singing the song again.

“Yeah.. maybe _Ochibi-chan_ was so excited to sing until he accidentally bit his tongue and ruined the song.”

“What the hell is your problem, you bastard!?” Ren seemed like he would never be affected by Syo’s earth-shaking scold, unlike the others.

“Cut it out, you guys!” the angry shout from Masato managed to calm those two S class students from starting an unnecessary fight. “Aijima wants to say something.”

It seemed like the black cat pointed his small leg towards someone.

Even though it was faraway from them, they still could see a tall figure with a dark blue hair, walking passed the field. Being the typical Tokiya, the polar opposite figure of Hayato, he always emitted the cool, perfect yet ‘dont’t disturb me’ aura whenever he goes.

“We need him to sing this song, right? No wonder the harmony doesn’t sound as pleasant as before,” Ren commented, sending the others agreed with him.

A few seconds passed and out of nowhere, a typical _shoujo_ drama was ‘aired’ in front of them as the obsessed fan of Tokiya or the leader of A Class trio; Nakamura Yuna, approached Tokiya with a sheepish expression written over her fair-skinned face. The other two, Ashu Mizuki and Tanaka Naomi hid behind a nearby tree, sorts of being supportive to the girl. 

“Is Nakamura going to confess to Tokiya?” Otoya was worried as he could see how jealous Haruka looked right now.

“Most probably. Yuna-chan always talked about how Tokiya-kun is dreamy and have an amazing singing voice,” Natsuki responded.

They could see that Yuna’s face turned redder as she told something to poker-faced Tokiya. The blue head just stared at her blankly before slowly shaking his head, much to his fan’s shock.

“But.. but why? I am sincerely in love with you, Ichinose-san,” Yuna’s voice started to get louder,which sounded more connvenient for other STARISH members, Haruka and Tomochika to eavesdrop on her confession. Yuna even tugged Tokiya’s sleeves, sending Haruka to clench her fists. 

“Oi, Nanami.. are you okay?” Syo shivered as this was the first time for him to see Haruka acted like she was going to transform into an anime villain who would destroy the earth as she saw a girl hitting on her husband.

“Sure she not,” Ren remarked as he was amazed with the composer too. Nobody ever thought that Nanami Haruka would be this scary if her jealousy got the best of her since she always had this kind of innocent and gentle image.

It seemed like since she was married to Ichinose Tokiya who everybody knows how intimidating and strong-willed he could be, Haruka has somehow become like him. 

“She touched my husband. I will not allow that,” as Haruka was about to interrupt them, Cecil suddenly nuzzled her legs.

“What’s wrong, Cecil-san?”

“I think he wants to say ‘Haruka, I think it’s better if you stand aside. If you want to scold her, you don’t have enough reasons to do so since Tokiya still treats you like a stranger. He will take you as a nuisance instead and the Yuna girl sure will spread the word that you are an obssesive fan of Tokiya to the point of you start imagining that Tokiya is yours’,” Masato suddenly made his voice higher so that it matched Cecil’s human-version voice but in fact, his voice reminded them with a certain moronic orange head from a sport anime.

“Wow, Hijirikawa. I never thought that you can make Spongebob voice like that,” Ren teased before receiving death glare from Masato.

Cecil abruptly left them, approaching Tokiya confidently (as you could expect from a cat who naturally walked like it was on a catwalk).

“What’s he trying to do?” Otoya expressed his wonder, receiving shrugs from the others as they continued watching.

Cecil suddenly stood in the middle of Yuna and Tokiya before groaning fiercely at Yuna who was coincidentally afraid with the species.

“What’s wrong with this cat?” Yuna shivered as Tokiya scooped Cecil into his arms.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Tokiya asked softly but it only made Cecil turned scarier, much to the girl’s fright.

“Why do you suddenly sound like you want to fight?” Tokiya asked calmly even though he could not understand this cat’s behaviour. ‘It’ has always been so timid and endearing but now..

“I will leave first, Ichinose-san,” without wasting any seconds, Yuna quickly left the scene, dragging her confused friends along with her.

“Nice work, Aijima-san!” Tomochika remarked happily.

“But now, he is doing a shitty work,” Syo responded as his light blue eyes focused on a certain disturbing scene.   

Cecil the Cat was doing his job as a lovely cat who typically licked and snuggled closer to Tokiya. The cold face of the vocalist automatically turned loving before he brought Cecil with him and Otoya could guess the roommate of his would bring Cecil to the dorm after this.

That kind of sight was supposed to give a new impression to the other students that Ichinose Tokiya is a loving cat lover but for STARISH members...

That kind of sight was so unsightly. Poor Tokiya.. If he knew that the cat was a grown-up guy like him...

“That jerk... how come he just casually licked and snuggled to his friend like that?” Cecil the Cat managed to make Syo’s hair stood on end.

“I think that Aijima is trying to make Ichinose’s attitude softer. After all,we need Ichinose to sing the song along with us,” Masato sighed heavily while the others could not agree more with him.

“To approach and make friends with him is one heck of problem... let alone making him singing with us. That will be tough,” Otoya also let out a heavy sigh.

 “I guess,we just have to make new plans,” Ren’s eyes directed to Haruka. “Even I know Lady right here already made her first move by giving him letters every single day. You know, out of those love letters he received, Icchi paid more attention to your letters.”

Haruka blushed, receiving a pat on her back from Natsuki. “Haru-chan, I don’t know you can be this upfront when it comes to Tokiya-kun. Well, the fact that Tokiya-kun also can be a lovebird when it comes to you is also hard for us to believe. Are you guys the type who only show your romantic side when no other people around?”

“I guess...so..” the cute face turned even redder than Otoya’s hair. “Tokiya-kun can be clingy and cheesy when there are only two of us.. he made me feel.. special. At first, I was shy to express affection but since he loves it, I got more and less used to it.”

“Well, that explains a lot when you can tell what’s his thinking enough from his face expression. With the rest of us, he is the symbol of a stoic. We could not tell if he is angry, happy or what not. That’s unfair,” Otoya expressed his unsatisfaction like a kid.

“What did you write in the letters, Haruka? Can we all know?” Tomochika stared at Haruka while giving her a teasing smile. It was so amusing when this best friend of her can easily switch to both all goody-two-shoes and blunt mode, depending on the situation.

“Nothing much.. I just tried to cheer him up since I know he is stressed out with his Hayato persona.”

“Wait, Nanami. Did you tell him that you know about Hayato?” Syo was slightly panicky.

“Not really. I just said ‘good luck with your part time job’ or something along the line,” when she realized the others were about to exhale a sigh of worry, she quickly continued, “I mean, yeah... I know I sound like a stalker who knows about his double life but if he continues to be aloof with everyone, my mission to return this world will have a slow progression. I want to be closer with him as soon as possible.. especially when he just left me that sudden for the sake of protecting me... I don’t have that much time to just sit around and observe him quietly. I need to do something..”

There is an unpleasant quietness and when Haruka was about to apologize to them for being reckless, she received a pat on her shoulder from Ren.

“We got you, Lady. You know what? You just inspired me to open my heart to someone that I should give a chance to her since a long time ago. I think I need to start over with her,” Ren winked at her, signaling that he would support her to win Tokiya’s heart.

“I guess.. we have different reasons to return to our past, right?” Syo smiled warmly to Haruka, followed by Natsuki.

“I guess so,” Otoya smiled as he thought about Nozomi. Yesterday, he went back to his orphanage out of curiousity and longing and as expected, Nozomi was there, smiling so bright the moment she caught the sight of Otoya.

Maybe the love was still no there but Otoya knew, there was something special about the childhood friend of him.

As for Masato, he planned to know more about Shizuka, his fianceĕ. Maybe initiating a long-lasting friendship with her would end up with something more precious and beautiful rather than an engagement without knowing more about each other.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren came up with a plan to play a bit with Tokiya. It had Magical Ichiko vibe though..

**CREDITS TO : UTA NO PRINCE SAMA**

 

**SAOTOME ACADEMY TOP PRINCES LISTS**

**_The Sexiest Prince_ **

 Jinguji Ren & Ichinose Tokiya         (S Class)

**_The Most Stunning Prince_ **

Hijirikawa Masato                             (A Class)

**_The Cutest Prince_ **

Kurusu Syo                                        (S Class)

**_The Angel-like Prince_ **

Ittoki Otoya & Shinomiya Natsuki    (A Class)

 

**“What** the heck!? I am the cutest prince?” Syo complained, receiving an ‘of course you are’ glare from Masato and giggles from Natsuki and Otoya.

“Don’t give me that look, Hijirikawa! You must be over the moon to be called the most stunning one, huh?”

“No, I’m not,” Masato’s face said otherwise when it blushed madly.

“But look at here, you guys! Ren and Tokiya tied for The Sexiest Prince title,” Otoya quickly pointed out the list. All of them actually had no ideas that their names were finalized in such random ranks until Tomochika pointed it out to them.

“When I believe I am the sexiest one,” Ren cracked a joke but receiving death glares from Masato and Syo.

“As expected from someone with a narcissism issue,” Masato remarked sarcastically while Syo rolled his eyes.

“You should learn how to be humble from Tokiya, Ren. He is called sexy without him even realizing it,” Syo commented, gaining himself a strong nod from Masato.

“It’s impossible for me to be uptight like Icchi. But, I guess I have a plan to make him chilled- out.”

“What do you mean Ren-kun?” Natsuki’s round eyes blinked a lot as confusion was all over his face.

Ren just smirked smugly.

“No.. you gotta be kidding me...” Masato’s poker face slowly turned pale as he could guess just what the heck Ren’s plan was. “You cannot possibly..”

“You are in, Hijirikawa. No excuses. And also you guys...” Ren pointed his slender finger towards each of his friends before leaving them abruptly with a group of girls swooned over him.

“What is he on about?” like Natsuki, Otoya also had a blank expression on his face.

“Oi, Hijirikawa! I don’t get the picture yet but whatever that jerk plans, it must be something ridiculous, right? Right? Oi, Hijirikawa!” Syo shook Masato who is much bigger and taller than him but...

No answers from Masato. Instead, his head was busy cursing Ren while brainstorming 15,679 ways to kill the irritating ex-playboy.

That rotten creature.... he should have shorter lifespan than Ichinose if he is this irritating!

* * *

 

**Haruka** was about to go to her PE class when on the spur of the moment, her golden eyes served her with the image of Tokiya, sitting alone under a tree, reading his favourite book.

Or in other words, Tokiya was reading the letter that she sneaked into the book. His expression was...

Wait! Is he angry?

She was about to approach him when out of nowhere, Syo approached him first.

“Tokiya, there you are!” the small boy caught his breath before continuing. “Your turn for playing tennis is coming. Come on, don’t just read a book like a nerd and join us for the God sake!”

Tokiya glared at Syo before closing his book, obviously was not pleased with Syo’s remark. “Since you are so athletic and not a nerd like me, I think you just can do me a favour by playing for me instead.”

“It’s not the same, idiot. Everyone must present for this competition. Come on,” without sparing some time to listen to Tokiya’s complaints, Syo grabbed the much bigger boy’s hand before dragging him to the tennis court.

Without wanting to make Tokiya felt suspicious, Syo carefully took a glance at Haruka before mouthing,

“Come to the tennis court and you will find something interesting.”

With a slight doubt, Haruka jogged to the said place.

“Just what is Syo-kun planning?”

* * *

 

**When** the girl arrived at the tennis court, Haruka was served with the sight of both students from A Class and S Class made a circle.

Just.. what happened...

“Haruka!” Tomochika who just noticed her signaled her ecstaticly to join her.

“What happened, Tomo-chan?” the small girl asked her best friend as she saw Ren and Tokiya were standing opposite to each other, right on the centre of the court. At a single glance, Haruka could see how dreamy the eyes of female students as they anticipated the competition between the good-looking students.

“Jinguji-san just challenged your husband,” Tomochika carefully whispered the word ‘your husband’ to her best friend’s ear.

“For what?”

“Beats me.. Maybe just for a fun?”

Well, as expected from Jinguji-san who loves to have fun.

 “ _Ne,_ Icchi. You know what? Those students in this school just voted us as the sexiest prince. It’s a tie for crying out loud.”

“So?” Tokiya raised his eyebrow while folding his arms. Unlike Ren who was flamboyant and emitted “I am fabulous” aura all the time, he never proud with whatever awards or votes they gave to him.

“What about we settle this score once and for all? I challenge you to prove to me, to prove to all of us that you are the most desirable prince in this academy.”

“What are you on about?”

“Cross-dressing and seducing men who are not from A Class and S Class. Whoever could flirt with the highest number of male students will be declared as the winner.”

“Whattttt!!!??” the others gave a super dramatic reaction. It was like they all thought that cross-dressing would be a very bad idea for a pair of buff guys like Ren and Tokiya to do.

“Haruka, what the hell is going on with Jinguji-san? Does he even own a mirror? He absolutely will look terrible if he turns into a girl,” Tomochika who is always the optimistic one could not even be one anymore. The thought of Ren and Tokiya would be transvestites alone was enough to make her almost vomitting out of disgust. “Kurusu-san and Ittoki-kun will be much better you know.”

“Who knows..” Haruka was completely speechless because she knew where this provocation session would end.

She knows just how skillful Ren is in terms of provoking people and she knows just how perfectionist her husband could be..

“What a nonsense,” Tokiya was too tired and annoyed to let himself joining Ren. To prove our sexiness? Excuse me.. For what, though?

If there is another thing that triggers or annoys him, the answer is the current situation that he was forced to involve with.

When Tokiya turned his back, the other students scattered a bit, giving him a way to leave the scene yet Ren was so quick-minded to give up. He knows just how critical Tokiya’s perfectionism could be to the point of he could easily play around with Tokiya’s weakness.

A perfectionist like him wants everything to be perfect and he will never stop being hardworking until everything turns perfect. So, all Ren had to do was goading the perfectionist side of Tokiya so that he would be motivated to join their match and get it done perfectly.

“You think this is nonsensical? Are you sure, Icchi?” Ren’s comment made the blue-haired friend of him stopped. “You know? This is a draw or in other words, the rank is not finalized yet. Don’t you feel chagrined because come to think of it, all you have to do is proving that you and I are on different level? Do you want this to be a hang-up? That did not sound perfect at all, Icchi. I know you. You love perfection.”

Tokiya continued to disregard the saxophonist.

“Or perhaps.. you feel intimidated because you know, I am going to win without even trying, right?”

The moment Tokiya turned to meet Ren’s eyes, the scion knew his plan would be successful.

“I am afraid you have to take back your words, Jinguji Ren,” the blue orbs now was full of determination. “Your only weapon is your unbutton shirt so that you can show off your lean chest..”

“And yours will be your dark and cold aura which is so typical in shoujo manga nowadays,” Ren smirked. “I think.. it would be fun if we include the other winners for the Saotome Academy Top Princes List. A Class would be... Shinomi, Ikki, Hijirikawa...”

“Ehhhhhh??” Natsuki and Otoya could not hide their shock even frankly speaking, they did not think a cross-dressing was embarassing to do since they do not care about their images but for Masato...

“You better kill me now,” Masato rolled his eyes while almost getting himself fainted. Just thinking about the horror of cross-dressing itself was so sickening to handle. What would his strict and conservative father would react if he knew about this match? His father was trying so hard to make him a masculine, decent and pure Japanese man but he, in this school..

Not only studying music when his father did not allow him to but he would be a temporary transvestite for the sake of Ren’s stupid idea!

“S Class would be Icchi, me and _Ochibi-chan_..”

_“Ochibi-chan?”_ Tokiya brought his brows together, expressing the others’ wonder about who the hell was _Ochibi Chan._

“Don’t call me _Ochibi_ , Ren!” with the single sentence came from the Grumpy Syo, the others muttered ‘Aaaaa... It’s Kurusu/Kurusu-san/Syo.’

“Yes, It’s Kurusu Syo, our cutest prince,” Ren turned to the guys, seeking for supports while at the same time, you could still hear Syo’s yelling out of rage as the ‘background music’. “What do you think, you guys? It would be much livelier if the six of us, the Top Princes just compete to prove who is the best _Uta no_ Prince, right?”

“Right!”

“And to be the best _Uta no_ prince, you should not only charm the girls but also the guys, right?”

“Right!” they continued answering without thinking and ever realizing what kind of stupidity that they agreed with.

“I will really appreciate if both A Class and S Class members do not spill the beans. Just let six of us make a surprise to other classes, okay? Meanwhile, those selected princes are not allowed to withdraw or else... they will be considered as the servants for the whole month. However, for those who lose the competition will not receive any punishment as long as they try their best. After all, Ringo sensei used to say that cross-dressing is normal in idol world. Our fans will like it for sure so why don’t we start practicing from now on? So, are you guys with me?”

“Yes!!”

“’Yes, my foot!” Masato who finally reached his last straw threw his sport shoe to Ren but it landed to Syo instead who immediately collapsed to the ground. Masato was about to choke Ren to death but held down by a pair of pacifists, Otoya and Natsuki.

* * *

 

**“Toki**... I mean Ichinose-san!” Haruka called out as she came across a tall figure who wandered along the corridor.

“It’s just you,” Tokiya sighed in boredom but his coldness did not affect her as she observed him from head to toe.

Well, unlike Ren who shamelessly put on a short skirt, Tokiya wore a demure school uniform which consisted of a top, a knee-length skirt and a pair of black stockings. He wore a midnight blue pony-tailed wig which matched his original hair colour. 

It was all because of Ren’s cross-dressing match.

Just like back then, she still remembered how Tokiya asked her about how to be an attractive girl just for the sake of the punishment for losing the match with A Class. His perfectionism made him so desperate to be girlish when in fact...

As much as Haruka loves him for who he is yet she could not deny the fact that Tokiya would look terrible as a girl. His body is well-built and obviously contrary to a high school girl’s figure. While his face can be beautiful and handsome at the same time yet Tokiya’s dark and cold aura was too strong, enough to make any guys running away from him out of fear and feeling intimadated before he knew it.

Would he ask her again this time? She did not know what to hope anymore. It was nice to be closer with him but she was afraid that just like back then, she could not do anything to help him showing off his girlish side. 

“Where are you looking at? If you think I look ridiculous, pointing out what should I do to look more girlish is much nicer, you know..”

There you go, Haruka! He is asking you.

“ _Ano_.. Ichinose-san..”

“Yes?”

“I will give you an honest opinion but I hope you don’t get mad.”

“What is it?”

“Honestly, for me, you have a very beautiful face but..” she pointed at his lips nervously. “If you smile more, you will look very appealing as a girl, you know.”

Haruka ducked, too nervous to look at his reaction. She waited for his reply but he remained silent.

Is he angry? I don’t think so though.

“Thank you for your opinion. I will go first and beat the rest.”

“Eh??”

What’s with the sudden tenacity, though?

Yes, she should be grateful that at least, he was not going to seduce girls but...

Seducing guys? Hopefully, nobody would...

“Have you ever seen a tall girl with a long blue hair? I wonder if I ever saw her in this school before but she is so pretty! She agreed to go out with me this weekend. She even gave me a peck on my cheek,” certainly _Kami-sama_ did not answer her prayer when ten minutes later, a boy suddenly grabbed his friend not far from where Haruka stood.

“Wow, the girl sure is bold.”

“But I still wonder.. how come a girl like her has such a muscular body? Does she play boxing or something?”

“Probably.”

A tall girl with a long blue hair? A peck on cheek!!? Did he mean Tokiya-kun?

As their conversation piqued her curiosity, her golden eyes searched for her husband until she was greeted with the sight of Tokiya who was playing with a random guy’s curly hair while curving a sultry smile.

You gotta be kidding with me, Ichinose Tokiya!

“Then, see you tonight, my goddess,” the guy from B Class most probably thought that he did a good job with his romantic skinship by kissing Tokiya’s pale hand yet in fact...

Haruka could see that it took all for Tokiya to not vomit out of disgust. His face struggled to keep a pleased face and thanks for his acting skill, he managed to hide it from the random guy.

“Okay, byeeee,” he gave the guy a flying kiss with a stiff hand. The moment the guy from B Class went into his classroom, Tokiya immediately turned into a creepy guy who just wanted to go berseck and massacre anybody who bumped into him even they were innocent. He was not even shocked when he realized that Haruka witnessed how the hell did he flirt with the boys.

“Wanna a handkerchief to wipe your hand?” she offered as she knew, Tokiya was about to clean the spot on his hand where the B Class lad kissed on.

“Thanks,” he answered after a long pause. He wiped it rather roughly as if his hand was just infected by a contagious disease , making her entertained.

“Well, how.. how many guys did you..”

“It’s 15..” while she gasped out of amazement and shock, his dark aura was emitted again yet for some reasons, Haruka felt the urge to laugh as his funny side appeared. “ I successfully flirted with 15 guys and it’s dreadful.”

And so, she laughed, not able to control herself anymore. She really missed this side of Tokiya. Sometimes, he did not even aware how cute and silly he could be.

“Why did you laugh?” Tokiya was obviously mad yet she still could not control her laughter because she knew..

There was no way Tokiya would kill her no matter how infuriating she could be with him.

“Why did you say it was dreadful to flirt with those guys?”

“Because those guys surely are impatient for a high school boy. I mean, if they keep being perverted like that, I wonder about the future of the girls in this school.”

“What do you mean by that?” Haruka titled her head in bewilderment.

“It’s better if you don’t know. Just be careful around them,” the way his face expression turned darker with the aura ‘don’t let me recall what those scumbags did to me”, Haruka knew she should not ask him for more details.

At least, her eyes could relish the presence of him in this close distant even he was in such an absurd state. Her golden eyes suddenly narrowed to his collar. It was slightly open, revealing a deep scar that she knew, he tried so hard to keep it as a secret but she was positive that Tokiya was not aware of it. Maybe the ‘impatient’ term that Tokiya referred to the boys meant he was harrassed including his chest part.

As she was on edge when there were more students around, she approached Tokiya before fixing his uniform, making sure that it would cover his scar.

“What... are you doing?” Tokiya was startled with the sudden contact.

“Your collar is wide open. You really want to be secretive about this scar, right?.”

Confusion was written all over his pale-skinned face. Scar? How did she know...

“Wait.. What do you mean? How did you know...”

“Tokiya!” Out of nowhere, Otoya ran towards him while dragging Masato along. Joining the red head was Natsuki, who was bringing Cecil the Cat in his arms. Right behind them were Syo with an irritated face expression and Ren who just walked casually.

All of them looked... well, they were various. Syo looked so cute like a Barbie doll with the pink dress and a ribbon in his thick blond wig. Ren and Natsuki were definitely a pair of eyesores since they had those broad shoulders and muscular legs. Otoya looked so-so with his red and short wig while Masato is just like Tokiya. He would look much more exquisite if he smiled brightly instead of frowning.

“ _Ne,_ Tokiya. How was it? Did you flirt with anyone?” Otoya asked rapturously.

“Yes. 15 of them,” Tokiya’s flat answer sent them in shock.

“Then, the gorgeous princess with a blue hair... that must be you!” Syo shouted out of disgust and shiver. “How did you do it, man? You, Tokiya... out of all people..”

“What princess with the blue hair?”

“Just now, everybody keeps talking about how a mysterious and beautiful girl seduced boys in this school. They are curious to know who the heck she is. Since we all know that only Masa and you have blue hairs, we can narrow down the answers already. But Masa is so stiff. He could not even flirt with any of them because he looked awkward and he punched anyone who touched him.. I don’t know Masa could be that violent..” Otoya gave an in disbelief look to the said blue head who was still frowning.

“Said someone who could not even make his voice girlish..” Masato clicked his tongue out of dissatisfaction. “At least I can do one.”

“Then, we concluded that the princess is you. _Omedettou,_ Tokiya! _Omedettou!_ ” Otoya shook his roommate’s hand vigorously.

“Are you being sarcastic or what?”

“No, moron! You are the winner since Ren actually could not flirt with anyone. Totally saw that coming,” Syo took a glance at Ren who emitted an extremely unpleasant aura kind of cross-dresser.

“Well, I know I can’t win from the start. There is no way a tall, dark and handsome man like me could flirt with any straight guys,” for God-knows-how-many-times, Ren was totally full of himself.

“And that’s why you said those who lose will not receive any punishment because you know there is no way you can win! You, bastard!” Again, Masato was about to choke Ren to death but Natsuki and Otoya swiftly held him down.

“You are the winner, Tokiya-kun! Now, let’s take a picture together! We will announce to the whole school!” Natsuki grabbed Tokiya’s shoulder while posing for camera which Haruka held while his other hand held Cecil the Cat. When did he ask Haruka to be their camerawoman, nobody ever noticed that.

“What? Wait! For what?” Tokiya was shocked and struggled to run away from those dorks but they already sandwiched him with Otoya next to him , Syo right in front of him due to his tragic height while Ren and Masato occupied the space behind him.

“Take Ce.. I mean Kuppuru, Tokiya-kun. You are the center so the picture will look much better if you hold a cat while I hold Syo-chan..”

“Not even in your dream!” Syo shouted furiously.

“What’s the use of this picture anyway?” Tokiya was obviously uncomfortable with the way they just invaded his personal space and cluttered themselves closer with him. “And also, since when this cat has a name?”

“Haru-chan gave the name to it!” Natsuki replied brightly.

“And also, it’s for our high school memory, Icchi. Even if you don’t care about this, the rest of us will appreaciate it until we die,” as Ren answered, Tokiya never noticed the sudden gloom emitted from the others.

He totally did not have any idea how his death affected them.

“Em.. guys, please get ready for the picture. Smile, everyone..” Haruka awkwardly tried to lighten the atmospehere. “Okay... 1...2..3..”

And the picture was taken.

“This is so nice,” Haruka smiled warmly when her eyes focused on the picture.

STARISH members with their typical face expressions; Masato and Syo were frowning and glaring at Ren, Tokiya who suddenly smiled as Kuppuru snuggled to him, Natsuki and Otoya grinned while making a ‘peace’ sign and Ren who still tried to look charming even he put on a short skirt.

She knew what this picture ever meant. They just wanted to relish bitter-sweet memories as much as they could. Tokiya’s death made them realized that in this world, nothing and nobody would be eternal so they wanted Tokiya to enjoy his life more.   

* * *

 

**“Okay,** Masa. How many metres?”

“It’s not even a metre, Ittoki. It’s about... ten centimetres..”

“Do we have to do this, you guys? I don’t think this is right,” being logical as always, Syo, who was assigned to be on his guard while standing at Otoya’s room door crossed his arms while observing the unbelieavably focused Otoya and Masato who planned to sneak a look at Hayato’s schedule in Tokiya’s diary so that they could help Haruka planning for the next steps in order to get closer with the blue head.

Yet, the ironically toughest thing was not the sneaking a look part (because Tokiya always went back to the dorm late due to Hayato’s tight schedule) but the part which they had to place the diary into its original position.

“Of course this is the right way, Syo! You have no idea how fussy Tokiya can be,” Otoya answered, trying to convince the not-so-convinced Syo. “He remembers every single inch of the position of his items, not to mention the space of his books from the wall and stuffs. That’s why we need to measure the space of his diary from his pencil case so that after we take it and put it back, we can do exactly the same like him and he will never be suspicious.”

“That guy.... how can you stand being his roommate for these years? You, Otoya, out of many people...” Syo sounded in disbelief and disgusted at the same time.

“Between criticizing me or Tokiya, just choose one already, Syo,” Otoya remarked with a straight face since he knows how polar opposite he is of Tokiya and how messy his room side can be compared to the perfectionist.

“It’s Shinomiya,” Masato answered a sudden call from his classmate. _“Moshi – moshi?”_

“Have you guys done already? Tokiya-kun just walked past us. You gotta get ready and finish your task right now,” Natsuki was in charge of informing the whereabouts of Tokiya to them, together with Ren.

“Okay, Shinomiya. _Arigatou_ ,” Masato’s collected voice suddenly turned anxious as the truth finally hit his head. “Crap! Ichinose already walked past the corridor which means he will come here soon!”

“What? Come on, Masa! We need to get hurry. Syo, be on your guard now.”

_“Wakatta.”_

Ten seconds later...

“Oi, guys! He is here!” Syo half-yelled as Tokiya was about to reach the room.

“Okay, done! Er..”

“Eh? Em... Ittoki, thanks for the note,” Masato quickly went out from the room while dragging Syo along with him. Obviously, whatever happened after this, they would entrust Otoya to deal with it including if Tokiya suddenly went berseck after he noticed that his belongings were touched without permission.

“O..okay, you’re welcome.”

“Ichinose, welcome back.”

“Thanks,” Tokiya’s flat voice could be heard as he finally reached the door. Otoya quickly took a sit on his bed, pretending to read a manga.

It was a silence as Otoya observed the spent Tokiya who was swaying as he walked to his study table.

Obviously, he is tired from working too much. Come to think of it, how come I didn’t recognize that he and Hayato is the same person ‘back then’? Wait, I am not the weird one here. Everyone also bought the ‘twin brother’ fake story since Tokiya and Hayato’s personality can’t be more different.

“Otoya,” the usual cool voice suddenly turned stern.

“Em.. yes?”

“Why are my diary and other books in such a mess?”

“In a mess? How does it look like a mess? I think I put it in the right place.. oh, crap! I already gave the game away,” being a simpleton as always, Otoya easily let the cat out of the bag.

“Otoya...” only from one single heck of death glare and word, Otoya knew that Tokiya still gave him a chance to explain but at the same time, he indirectly gave a warning that he would kill his roommate for being insolent.

For some reasons, dealing with Tokiya who is not violent and soft-spoken all the time no matter how angry can he get seems three times creepier than dealing with Syo, the grumpiest member in STARISH.The blue head certainly knows how to make himself intimidating without using too much energy to punch or kick anybody.

“Masa wants to borrow your text book. I helped him searching for it but I could not find it,” at the eleventh hour, Otoya knew the word ‘Masato’ would save him from being killed by his own roommate.

“Is that so? It’s fine, then,” Tokiya’s face expression softened a bit before he rearranged his books and went to his closet, ready to take a bath.

He looks much calmer the moment I dragged Masa into this mess. As expected from these two.

“ _Ne,_ Tokiya. To be honest, do you think I am a nuisance?”

“Huh? Where did that come from?”

“Just answer me,” with his high-pitched and bubbly voice, there was no way for Tokiya to avoid the question. The thick-skinned and persistent red head would not shut up anyway.

“Yes, a bit because you always invade my privacy for so many times especially when it comes to Hayato..”

“Then do you want me to be collected like Masa? Do you want me to spend time doing calligraphy, decorating my room like a samurai-resembled room and scolding Ren everyday?” 

“No need to go that far. At least try to be one quarter of him if you really want to but..” Tokiya paused, finding suitable words for his roommate. “I think.. you being you... it’s the best. You don’t need to be like someone else and you should know that.”

This guy, Tokiya sighed. Does Otoya even realize how likeable he is? He has so many good things and charms to the point of he doesn’t need to change anything about himself. Unlike him...

Inspite the tone from his roommate sounded quite icy, Otoya could not help but smiling out of happiness.

“Thank you, Tokiya!”

“Don’t mention... wait! What’s the point of this anyway? Why did you suddenly talk about you and Hijirikawa-san?”

“Eh? Well, I.. I just don’t want to be a nuisance for you so I was thinking about behaving like Masa since you seem like.. I don’t know. You both have a great chemistry and I am a little jealouse for that.”

“You don’t need to be jealouse and you don’t need to change yourself just because of me, Otoya. Besides, I am not even your friend. We just happened to share a room for a year and that’s it.”

If other people are shot by those harsh and ignorant words, they might just be super upset, running away from the room or doing other dramatic responses and that counts commiting a suicide (if they are stupid enough to do so).

But this is Otoya that we are talking about. The one who makes ‘privacy is not in my head’ principle as his good point. The one who is always persistent to make the people he cares smiling.

“You don’t treat me as your friend because you were never allowed to make friends in the first place, am I right?” Otoya’s childish voice and comment was like a big slap across the bluenet’s face, considering how correct it was. “You don’t see me as your friend because you were not allowed to be attached with anyone or anything other than your studies, right?”

Tokiya just froze in front of his closet. He did not have the guts like always to make an eye contact with the red head, let alone glaring at him. His face was a bit pale and he did not want Otoya to see his panicky side.

“How.. how do you know?”

“Beats me.. I just had a hunch from the way you lead your life,” Otoya replied, hiding the fact that he knows Tokiya’s past because he came from their future anyway.  

_“I am sending you to the school so that you can get the top rank! Not for the sake of making friends and doing stupid things with them, you ungrateful child!”_

_A slap flew across his face. He collapsed on the floor while crying. He wondered about what was so wrong with him making friends with his own classmates. Why, unlike others, he was forbidden to have fun like a normal child and instead, he was forced to study like crazy until it somehow affected his mental health?_

_“Starting from tomorrow, you are going to break your so-called sweet friendship with them! Play with them again and I will beat you till death. Understand!?”_

All of sudden, the memory of Tokiya’s atrocious childhood crossed his mind. At that time, he was abused for gaining the second rank in his batch. His mother even demanded the teachers to ensure that Tokiya would not be close with anyone because for her, friends only give bad influences to her ‘precious’ son.

It gave him a shiver which is one of the factors why he hated skinship. It made him recalling how brutal his mother had hit him before.

And those scars are still there, all over his body.

“Tokiya?” A soft touch on his shoulder made him flinching. He looked at Otoya in horror but much to his surprise, his roommate gave him a very comforting look.

“Are you okay? You shivered.”

“I... I am fine. Just.. just go away,” Tokiya already gave a ‘don’t disturb me’ kind of body posture but it only made Otoya smiled even warmer.

“Otoya?”

“Unlike other people, I always think that no matter how weird one’s personality can be, I don’t have any rights to be judgemental to him. There is always a reason for everything in this world including you, who chose to be alone all the time. But, if you cannot bear the pain that you has suppressed in you any longer, just remember that I am here, Tokiya. No, wait. You actually have more friends than you think. We are here, Tokiya.”

Those sincere-sounded lines managed to make Tokiya feeling touched and speechless. Without waiting for Tokiya’s response, Otoya walked away from the room, giving Tokiya space and time to get composed from the sudden awkward and dramatic moment.

“Waa, I can’t believe this! Me, out all of people can generate some words of wisdom like that. That’s very cool of you, Otoya! Good job to yourself,” he mentally gave himself a pat on his back. “‘I just had a hunch’ my foot! At least, he believed the excuse,” Otoya was totally happy as he quickly ran to Natsuki’s room to brag about just how cool he was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 8! I totally made up the Tokiya's past part since his family background is not well-explained. And speaking about the cross-dressing part, I got the idea when I watched Magical Ichiko. I must say, even it's disturbing to imagine Tokiya, with his high-pitched voice, being girlish and all that but it is still entertaining though! Despite of his seriousness, they still tried to make Tokiya funny and silly. I hope you enjoy this story and feel free to leave a comment!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cat finally let itself out of the bag.. Would Tokiya simple accept the truth that Haruka and STARISH were from the future?

CREDITS TO : UTA NO PRINCE SAMA 

 

 **Tokiya** was about to get ready to sleep after going through a very long day as Hayato when the sight of untidy room quickly got in his nerves.

Or to be more specific, their shared room became messy because of Otoya's unorganized belongings. His laundry were scattered on the single bed while his stationery and text books filled the centre of the room.

"Otoya! Otoya!" he screamed for the red head a few times but gaining himself no responses. Most probably, the guitarist were hanging out with his classmates.

Tokiya sighed as he sat down on Otoya's bed before folding the red head's clothes. If you do not know much about Tokiya, you might think that he is such a sweet roommate but in reality, he organized the red head's belongings because his eyes could not stand with a messy room. It made his already exhausted head on the verge of explosion.

Next, those 'creatures' on the floor...

When he was about to gather all the text books, he saw a familiar handwriting on a book which was obviously not Otoya's since his was always crappy.

"Nanami Haruka," he read the name of the owner as she observed the handwriting rigorously. "The same handwriting.."

He quickly approached his drawer, taking out a pile of letters that caught his attention recently and comparing the handwritings.

"Who's this Nanami Haruka by the way?"

Out of the blue, he could hear the sound of Otoya and Syo chattered about a soccer game as they went into the room.

"Tokiya, you are early tonight. Wait! Why are you holding Nanami's book? Could it be that you are also interested with her songs? She is amazing, you know.." Otoya's question however received no responses from the blue head. Instead, the shorter boys were served with the sight of grim expression from Tokiya, making Syo flinched out of terror.

"Who is this Nanami Haruka?"

"Your wife," Otoya spontaneously answered, receiving a jab from Syo, right in his stomach.

"What?"

"A friend of ours. A Class student," Syo interrupted.

"Which one?"

"The one with short hair and golden eyes," Otoya held back his anticipation as Tokiya obviously showed interest to Haruka. This is a good news for the girl.

Ah, that one! That explained a lot. She does look suspicious from the start, Tokiya's mind was quickly served with the adorable face of Haruka.

But the adorableness was not his focus right now. Instead, he was goaded by her unpredictable personality. To be honest, it was hard to believe that Haruka is a shy girl (according to what Otoya and Syo have described her before) when in fact, so far, she was so bold in approaching him.

"I need to see her tonight. Can you tell her to meet me now by the lake?"

"Eh? Why all of sudden?" Syo and Otoya asked in unison.

"It's something to do with the letters that I got recently. Her handwriting looks familiar so I need to confront her. Now, call her."

"Wait.. Why do you look so scary, Tokiya? What do you want to do with our friend?" Syo asked out of alarm.

"Call. Her. Now," Tokiya sounded too much like Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada movie. His voice was slow and calm but for some reasons, he sounded like he was going to demolish the entire building.

"Okay, okay," Syo quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket and called the said girl.

" _Moshi-moshi,_  Nanami. Are you busy? Good. Listen here. Tokiya wants to meet you now. Yes, it's Tokiya...by the lake. I.. I don't know but.." Syo suddenly spoke in a softer voice. "He sounds like he's going to commit a homicide or something. You better be careful,okay? It's okay. We got your back. Okay, bye."

"I heard you, you know," Tokiya's sudden remark sent Syo to scream his lungs out. "Don't worry. I am not going to kill anyone. So, is she available tonight?"

"Y..yes. She will go there now."

"Okay, thank you," he brought Haruka's textbook and his letters after pulling a sweater from his closet. He left the room quickly, sending the smaller boys froze for a while.

"That roommate of yours sure is scary. Right, Otoya?"

"Yes, downright scary."

* * *

 

 **Waiting**  for the moment when she would meet Tokiya was nerve-racking. The questions in her head about the real purpose of tonight's rendezvous met their answers instantly as Haruka saw the image of Tokiya holding a text book which is hers and a pile of letters that she recognized promptly.

Has he learned the truth now? Well, judging from how Syo-kun sounded just now, I think I need to prepared myself to tell him the truth.

"Nanami Haruka?"

The moment he said her full name, she blushed on the spot because she missed the voice calling out her name so much.

"Ye..yes, I am."

"Sorry if I interrupted your schedule.."

"It's okay!" she replied aggressively, much to Tokiya's shock. "Rather than feeling such thing, I am... I am glad because you want to meet me."

Wow, Haruka! You sure changed a lot since you have become his wife, even she herself could not help but feeling proud and amazed with the fact that she has this bold side when it comes to other things beside music. After she fell in love with Tokiya and married him, she slowly learned how to be affectionate towards him. As time goes by, the next thing she knew, she became clingy to him as much as he did.

"You are glad because you are meeting me? Are you sure?" the idol lifted his eyebrow, obviously looked dubious. "And why is your face red? Or rather, it's always red," he asked with his usual icy voice but knowing her husband for so long, Haruka knew he actually cared about her.

"Because you're here," Haruka answered, spontaneously.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

Tokiya sighed in disappointment. He closed his eyes, trying to be patient with this petite girl.

"Look... Let's just get down to business, okay? I cannot stand with this anymore. I don't know you and I believe you also never see me before but for the God sake, can you explain why on earth you..." all of sudden, he did not have any idea where should he start when he was supposed to interrogate Haruka. This girl in front of him was so annoying yet at the same time, she had this mysterious aura that made her irresistable in his eyes.

"These letters..." he showed them to her. "You wrote them, right? I saw the handwriting and.."

"Yes, I wrote them," she answered like nobody's business. Her absurd calmness was killing him inside.

What was the deal with this Nanami Haruka? Why could not she just leave him alone? He had a secret that he desperately needed to keep and knowing a so-called stalker who seemed to know a lot about him did not make him feel any better.

All of sudden, he landed his hands on a tree, right on top of the girl's head. He deliberately moved closer to her.

Slowly until his nose touched hers, sending a chill through the composer's vein.

He's so close! What should I do? Her face got even redder as her heart was about to explode.

"Toki... I mean, Ichi... Ichinose san, there are only both of us here..."

"I know."

"What happen if.. anybody sees us like this?"

"I don't care. All I want to do is staring at the gorgeous face of yours. Is it wrong?"

"No. I don't mean it like that."

In fact, I like it.

"If that's not the case, then what is it?"

"I... I..." as he expected, Haruka's face blushed even more. If this happened again, the possibility for the petite girl to catch a cold was high.

"You don't feel comfortable, am I right?" Tokiya smirked and somehow Haruka knew what that meant. "That's what I feel when you literally stalked me. Anybody can be pissed off if a stranger stalks him wherever he goes...especially when he desperately needs a privacy," he remarked as he backed away from her.

Haruka swallowed her saliva. She knew she was not supposed to but it broke her heart when Tokiya, the love of her life just treated her as a stranger.

"A stranger..." she looked at him, feeling determined out of the blue. "I don't want to be a stranger. I want to be more than that."

"Wait.. what?"

"I want to be someone in your life, Ichinose Tokiya. Just like how we used to be before."

"What are you..."

"I am your wife, Ichinose Tokiya. We used to get married for two years."

"Ehhhhhhhhhh????"

The poker face in front of her turned horrified and it made her chuckled. It was entertaining to see her husband like this.

"What do you mean 'we used to get married for two years'? I am just 17 and I don't suffer from amnesia to forget about my own marriage."

"I know this is insane. In fact, I myself still cannot figure out this situation but I believe, it has something to do with you. Whoever put me here might wish me to save you."

"Err..." Tokiya's head started spinning out of confusion."Wait.. let me compose this first..."

Got married... we? She and I? For two years already? Who the hell did put her here? The urge to pull his dark blue hair out of confusion and frustration got the best of him. As he decided to do so, he felt a touch on his shoulders.

"Toki.. I mean, Ichinose-san.. are you okay?"

"Of course I am not," he released himself from her hold. "Anybody will be panicky if the same situation happens to them."

"But swear to God, I come from your future, our future. It was confirmed that, in another ten years, on 24th April, we would get married."

"W..what? How can you be so sure?"

"Because it already happened. I came from your future so I already know what is our future."

"You sound like Doraemon who comes to Nobita's past so that he can help Nobita to get a better future."

"Hehe. You can say that but I don't have a 4D pocket like his," she giggled but Tokiya just remained serious.

"I find it hard to believe."

"I know but trust me.. all those things like hugging and kissing you all of sudden after the assembly, saying that I miss you so much, tending to address you as your first name, the letters.. and the fact that I know everything about you is because I used to be your family, your wife."

No responses from him. His mind was too busy analyzing the whole circumstances.

For the past two weeks,when he always said that Haruka was a nuisance, he could not help but observing the girl. Fate seemed to be nicer to her (and worse to him) when they always bumped into each other. However, without her being aware, he observed her character and that included how she behaved around other guys.

Nanami Haruka is a goody-two-shoes. That was enough to describe her. She is a naive girl who is not only polite and good-natured with everyone but she has her 'scary' side. She can be so determined to achieve her goal.

It is impossible for this nice girl to be so bold only with me unless I am really..

"I know you are Hayato, Ichinose san," she felt the need to prove to him that what she told him just now was not a pile of nonsenses. "I know your twin brother doesn't even exist."

Tokiya's eyes widened.

"I know you made an agreement with our principal so that you can debut again as yourself."

"What are you..."

"I know you have a secret that you want to keep. You don't want to be Hayato anymore. You really want to sing, right?"

"Nanami-san..."

"I know that you and your mother are not in a good term. She demanded you to be perfect. She hates you for admiring your father. Your relationship with her becomes worse after she left you and married Hayato's president," her golden eyes continued to meet his blue orbs as she talked. "I know all about you, Ichinose san. It's not because I am a stalker when for the time being, you can call me one but because I am your wife. I know every single thing about you. If you wonder about how I know about your scar when you cross-dressed on that day, the answer is still the same. I am your wife so it does make sense that I had learned about your body from head to toe."

Honestly, it was supposed to give him a shiver. Knowing that there is another person who knows everything about him apart from himself including about every inch of his body when he never made love with any girls nor exposing it publicly was downright creepy but..

For some reasons, he could tell that Haruka did not lie to him.

"If it is hard for you to believe me, you can ask other STARISH members."

"STARISH?"

"Er... I mean.. Ittoki-kun, Shinomiya-san, Hijirikawa-san, Jinguji-san and Syo-kun.. they are also from our future like me."

"Then correct me if I am wrong, Nanami-san."

"Yes?"

"Those people that you mentioned just now.. Is the reason why they freaked out when they saw me is the same like yours? They actually come from the future. Is that what you want to tell me?"

"Yes."

"How did we... I mean how did we get married?" Tokiya felt awkward but he could not overcome his curiousity. For someone who did not experience his first love yet, he wondered what was the solid reason for him to choose her as his wife.

"Em.. We just found out that...we love each other and you proposed me soon after that because you want to live together with me as soon as possible."

Well, that was... out of character, the idol thought in surprise without being aware about his romantic and cheesy side in future. He never imagined how he would react around someone that he chose to be his wife because he never experienced talking properly, let alone making friends with a girl. In spite of his playboy wannabe kind of image, he is bad at talking with girls.

"Then, are you basically happy to get married with m.. I mean the adult me? Or rather,was he a good husband for you?"

Haruka knew, as cold as he could be, he did not mean to be cruel. He just wanted to know so that he could analyze the situation thoroughly.

However,the question hit her like a school bus.

Was he a good husband for her? She found it hard to put in words how much she felt grateful to God for the bless in form of a perfect husband for her.

Yet, the perfect husband was no longer there beside her.

The perfect husband's death left a big scar in her heart so....

She could not help but crying instantly.

"Yes, very. I cannot describe how much I love him and how much I want to thank him for making me the happiest..."

Tokiya was bewildered as he witnessed the unexpected scene. As she wiped her wet cheeks, he felt his heart sinking. What the heck was wrong with him? But for sure, the unsettled feeling that killed him inside was more than a guilt for being the cause of her melancholy.

Along with an awkwardness, Tokiya patted her shoulder as an attempt to comfort her.

"P.. Please don't cry. Honestly, I don't know how to comfort a girl but I hope this will help."

All of sudden, Haruka embraced Tokiya as she could not surpress her longing for her late husband anymore, enough to make the 17 years old Tokiya jumped a bit.

Not again!

"I am sorry, Tokiya-kun.." he felt his white shirt slowly getting wet as she cried while pulling him closer.

Just what happened to me to make her cry like this? His hands slowly hugged her tiny frame. In his mind, all his curiosity and suspicion to this girl's weird behavior came second. All that mattered now was he had to comfort her.

If she is in this much pain because of me, I suppose a hug will be fine, right?

"You protected me from the guy who tried to hurt me.. You are dead without knowing about our baby.. I am so sorry for not being a good wife for you, Tokiya-kun. If only I could change something, I would rather be dead than you being the one who left me first."

Tokiya was too gobsmacked to talk.

Me? Dead?

"I am sorry," as she became more at ease, she moved backward from him. Again, she blushed.

Just like how it was before, Tokiya's embrace is so heart-warming.

"I shouldn't hug you so sudden like that.  _Gomenasai_!" her cute voice turned higher in pitch as she bowed in front of Tokiya.

" _Iie.._  it's okay," he replied, trying to give a calm smile.

"Actually, I just told Ittoki-kun that I want to meet you again during our school day so that I can spend more time with my husband.. You know, all that time during school was a waste. If only I could figure out sooner about what I actually felt to him other than just being his fan.."

"Just what happened to him? Or rather, what will happen to me?"

"My late husband.. when he was 29 years old, he was dead from protecting me.. We were supposed to celebrate my birthday but we never made it. Our car was hit by another car and the.. the culprit.. It seemed like he is my fan and resented me for marrying my husband so he ended up killing my husband when he protected me.."

29.. another twelve years to go, Tokiya's body turned stiff. Honestly he did not know how to react when out of all humans in this world, he was 'chosen' to be the one who knows his lifespan.

"And to solve all the mystery about why the others and me came to our past, we need you to sing together."

"Sing?" Tokiya put on a 'where the hell is this coming from' face.

"Well, how should I put it... One of our friends, Cecil-san is currently a cat but he is a man.. I mean a grown-up man like you. He comes from Agnapolis, a country which the people there practice magic and worship Muse as their God. For some complicated reasons, he was cursed into a cat so we cannot communicate with him at all. Yet, we all strongly believe that this whole-return-to-the-past situation is all his doing. To clarify that, you and the other STARISH members need to sing a song in order to break the curse and turn Cecil-san into a human again."

The  _fish?_  It took all for Tokiya to not curse. Instead, he responded with..

"That sounds so ridiculous!"

"I know, Ichinose-san. You might think I am crazy but.."

"Nanami is right, Tokiya," suddenly their serious conversation was interrupted by other STARISH members who eavesdropped on them from the start.

"Syo-kun.. Guys, what are you doing here?"

"Nanami, I think it's the time for us to prove to Ichinose that every single thing that you told him just now was not a lie," Masato remarked, gaining himself a nod from the rosette.

"Please, Ichinose-san. All you need to do is singing this song with them and we will find out the truth," she held his arms as an attempt to make him convinced.

He sighed for God-knows-how-many-times.

"Okay, then."

"Alright. I am all fired up!" Otoya quickly approached Tokiya before showing him the lyrics, complete with the music sheet of Maji Love 1000%, their debut song. "Okay, Tokiya. I will teach you how to sing this song. The purple one is your part, next to me."

"What song is this?"

"Maji Love 1000%. Nanami is the composer. According to the future, this is our debut song."

"Our what?"

"Yes, Tokiya-kun. Instead of debuting as a solo singer, seven of us will end up as a band called STARISH and Haru-chan is the founder," Natsuki answered him ecstaticly.

"Eh?" Tokiya stared at each of them blankly before he noticed another strange thing. "Did you just say 'seven of us'?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tokiya finally knew the truth! After this, a lot of dramas will be unfolded as Tokiya slowly opened up to Haruka. Hope you guys like this chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokiya encountered his mother, Megumi who hated both him and his late father..

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA 

 

**Long** story short, at that night, six of them sang their debut song and as expected, Cecil was eventually turned into a human.

“Yes, I was the one who made you guys returned to the past,” Cecil confessed as they started bombarding him with questions while licking his hand before realizing that he was no longer a cat, gaining himself disgusted looks from Masato and Syo. “Because Otoya said that Haruka wants to be all lovey-dovey with Tokiya (Tokiya gave Haruka a questioning look but the girl just turned away while blushing) during high school while you guys want to find a true love, so I supposed I would give it a shot. I also did not expect that the magic would be a huge success like this considering that I am just the beginner.”

“Then, how about Icchi’s lifespan? Is it the same?”

“Good question, Ren. Yes, it is the same and the same goes with all of us. Something so important like lifespan, who are our family, our pasts... they are the same. I am sorry, Tokiya. I have eavesdropped on your conversation with Haruka and I believe you already know about your death, right?”

Tokiya just nodded with a blank face.

This bloody cat can talk?

“You are going to flatline at the age of 29, two years after you got married with Haruka. I believe, through this whole returning to the past circumstance, we can find out who killed Tokiya then. At least, he can die in peace.”

“Then, let’s say we can find out who is the killer and we can stop him from killing Ichinose, how will Ichinose die then?” Masato asked, gaining himself several nods from the others as they also wondered about that in the first place.

“It will be a sudden death. His heart will stop beating when the time comes,” Cecil now sounded like a doctor who has treated a patient with a chronic disease.

It was a huge and depressing silence  but nothing could beat what Tokiya was thinking.

This was all too sudden. Not only his privacy was ‘invaded’ by a girl who claimed that she would marry him in next ten years, he also gained himself a bunch of dorkies as his friends who seemed treasuring him more than anything in this world.

He was also informed about how to avoid from being killed so that he could die in peace.

A normal human being will be so afraid with death but most of the time, they forget how death comes so sudden that there is no room for them to feel guilty anymore. But, in his case, he even knew in what year would he die. If he took it in more positive way, knowing when was his death would prepare him to achieve his life goal to his heart content.

“If we achieve the objective of why we are here, then are we going back to our original universe?” Natsuki pointed out.

“No. Even Tokiya is dead, we are still here, proceeding with our life.”

They nodded again before..

“Did you plan all of this by yourself?” for the first time in everyone’s life, Syo’s voice sounded ridiculously and scarily calm.

“Yes since I am the only one who knows the magic. I need to remind you guys, you guys might think that you are an adult since you still remember everything from your future but your body is still the high school version. You guys have not grown enough yet.”

“And you did it without our consent?” Masato’s voice sounded deeper than usual.

“Yes but I am positive that you guys are going to agree with my plan.”

“Making us in panic and all that, how come you look so happy and innocent like this, Cecil? Do you even have a heart?” Syo’s face got closer with Cecil as he held back from punching the Agnapolis prince.

“Yes, I still have a heart.. I guess..”

“Then, take this!” Masato and Syo started attacking Cecil out of rage with Natsuki and Otoya being the typical them; the peaceniks.

Meanwhile, Ren noticed that there was something wrong with Tokiya. The blue head just stood there silently since the beginning, remained speechless.

A ridiculous magic with green sparkles was one thing but...

The cat... the black cat.. the frigging black cat that he took such a good care until now...

The cat who shamelessly snuggled and licked his face once they met eyes...

The cat is Aijima Cecil? This Aladdin-looking man? As a normal human being who loves cats, Tokiya had done a lot of embarrassing things with the said cat and yet..

The cat is a frigging human for crying out loud!

“That cat is..”

“Oi, Icchi. Are you okay?”

Eventually, he passed out out of disbelief.

“Ichinose-san!!”

And so, Ichinose Tokiya officially hates cats.

* * *

 

**There** was another shocking thing that took place as soon as Tokiya came to himself after failing to endure all those absurdities including the fact that all this time, he petted a cat that deserved a punch.

They were greeted by Shining Saotome, the principal of the academy.

“You guys created a very wonderful harmony when you sang together. What’s the song, again? Maji Love 1000%, right? Miss Nanami, your song is so mesmerizing. No wonder Ringo praised your talent so many times. I guess making you guys debut as a band instead of as a solo singer will be a real hit, right?”

“Yes!!” all of them except Tokiya shouted excitedly.

And just like that, they were assigned to practice as STARISH, starting from the day on.

It was like a culture shock for Tokiya. He never imagined that he would debut again in a band. He would like to object yet come to think of it...

For what, though? Was it more satisfying for him if he debuted as a solo singer? Nobody could guarantee that.

As far as he still felt awkward to spend time practicing with the guys, he loves their debut song and he loves singing it with them. Nanami Haruka sure is so talented and could be an auspicious composer.

Yet, in the next morning, much to the blue head’s dismay, Aijima Cecil has officially joined them as a S Class student. To make thing worse to the point of Tokiya almost flipped a table, Cecil’s seat was just right beside him. 

It managed to distract Tokiya from paying attention in class for the whole day.       

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” he mumbled while massaging the bridge of his pointed nose. No matter how many times he recalled all the moments in that single night, he still could not believe how dramatic his future sounded.

“Anything happened, Hayato?” someone’s husky voice quickly brought him back to reality. Tokiya turned from his seat and greeted his president, Yamada Seichiro.

Or to be more exact, the legendary celebrity is the one who forced him to be Hayato. Seichiro did not allow him to be a singer with the bloody excuse;

“You are more suitable for variety shows and dramas.”

Which made Tokiya deciding to make an agreement with Saotome to debut again as Ichinose Tokiya.

“No, nothing. I am just practicing some lines from the script,” he was half-lying about that though. He did practice until he remembered about STARISH and Haruka.

“As expected from a hardworking idol like you. You are currently leading in acting and variety shows while my son will be a top singer in our agency.”

“Your son?”

As cliched and coincidental it could be, a few knocks from the door put the end to their conversation.

“Coming,” as Seichiro allowed them to come in, a boy which is a year younger than Tokiya and resembled Seichiro greeted them but the one who Tokiya could not take his eyes off her was...

Megumi, Seichiro’s second wife or  also can be introduced as...

Tokiya’s mother. A mother who just abruptly left him alone after her divorce.

“This is my son, Zen,” Tokiya shook hands with the lad while his heart pounded so fast as he was about to hold Megumi’s hand. “And this is Megumi, my wife.”

Seichiro never knew that he did not need to introduce Tokiya to his biological mother in the first place. Tokiya knew about the bitter truth since a long time ago when Seichiro showed him his family picture.

“So, you are that Hayato, right? With that frivolous ohha-yahho trademark,” Tokiya was too speechless to react with Megumi’s lame yet downgrading joke.

“Yes,” he flatly answered. From the way Megumi looked apart from wearing expensive dress and stunning jewellery, Tokiya could guess just how happy Megumi was with her current life and family.

And obviously, she did not even care about this son of hers who deeply missed her. To make it worse(?), Tokiya did not resemble Megumi that much so it would be easier for Megumi to deny the fact that Tokiya is her son.

“Hayato, do you remember when I said that both my wife and son used to live in London before? Now they are back to Japan so that Zen can start a new career. My wife and I had discussed in depth and we both agreed to make Zen as a promising singer.”

The news hit Tokiya hard. A singer? They will make him as a singer? Then, what about me?

“Is that so? That sounds... good. I am sure Zen-san will be a popular singer since you and Megumi-san chose him out of many people..”

“Hayato..” Seichiro held his shoulder and Tokiya was sure that this geezer had an idea about what his inside was struggling about now. “You have a beautiful voice and I know you want to be a singer too. But, I still think that variety shows and acting suit you more. They demand you and you have countless jobs because of that. You already made a lot of money and I know, I had made a right choice. I believe in you, Hayato.”

Tokiya mentally rolled his eyes as he listened to the not-so-moving yet overdramatic speech from Seichiro. Knowing Megumi, he was strongly positive that Megumi was the real culprit of this plan. Tokiya would not be surprised if Zen is actually a bad singer but since Megumi basically loves his precious son too much, she persuaded her husband in her own way so that Zen would be a superstar as well.

That was the power of Yamada Megumi or to add more details, a gorgeous lady who used to be a member of Ichinose family. Well, who can resist her charm? No matter how atricious her personality is, nothing can stop her from fully using her beauty to seduce an insanely rich geezer like Seichiro. 

 

* * *

 

**“How** do you do with your family, _ok_ a.. I mean... Megumi-san?” Tokiya asked as he was left alone with Megumi. Zen needed to go to the restroom while Seichiro had a short meeting to attend.

Cliched as hell! There is always a scene whereby two people with shared dark pasts, who struggle to not let the cat out of the bag, ending up in the same space so the awkwardness will be searing hot until they decide to confront about their past once again.

On the spur of the moment, Megumi slapped his face. Her long and red fingernails managed to make his cheek turned red as well but Tokiya was too despondent to feel the pain. He met the brown eyes of his mother, indirectly asking what was that for.

“I think you should get used with ‘Megumi-san’ instead of _‘okasan’_ , Hayato-san. A past is still a past. No need to be so melancholic about that,” Megumi said flatly and nonchalantly.

Honestly, did this old woman ever love him as her son? Tokiya did not think so, though. Especially when she addressed him as ‘Hayato-san’ instead of ‘Tokiya’.

“Whatever it is, you are still my mother even all this time, you don’t acknowledge me, let alone my dream to be a singer,” he answered her calmly but for some reasons, it angered her more.

“Because you don’t deserve to be a singer, you scumbag!” the high-pitched voice and scream which was used to be his childhood trauma was no longer could intimidate him. Instead, he just stared blankly at Megumi’s pretty face, getting ready for her insults while his heart was already torn into pieces. “You.. with your useless father’s blood in your body... do you think being a singer is your forte? Listen here, you brat! Your father is such a loser so there is no way a successful specialist like me will live together with that asshole anymore. I picked you just because I want to prove to everyone once again that you are not a loser like your father but you paid me back with your big speech about your dream. Your big speech about how you want to be a singer!”

Yes, his father’s company went bankrupt due to his comrades’ back-stabbing but Tokiya still could not understand the solid reason why Megumi left his father. Was she supposed to give him a full support instead? Obviously, she married him for his money.

“Then, how about Zen? Why do you support his dream to become a singer?”

“Because his father is extremely rich and not a loser like yours. There is no way for a president of a gigantic talent agency like Seichiro will end up as a no-hoper like your father and so does his child. I love Zen and I believe he will have way brighter future as a superstar.”

“I think the loser one here is you, Megumi-san. I just noticed something you know? Your husband used to tell me that Zen is 16 years old which means you and Seichiro-san had a child when you were still married to my father. It won’t be possible for you to have two husbands at the same time so.. I guess that Zen is your love child, right?”

“So what!? It’s none of your business!”

“For someone who is well-educated and perfect like you, you sure are a whore, right? You made love with another guy when your husband struggled to make you happy... what kind of bull..”

“Stop!!” again, she went crazy. She hit him countlessly but Tokiya’s strong muscle acted like a shield for him. “You bastard!”

“Hey, what’s going on here!?” luckily, Seichiro already arrived and Tokiya did not need to deal with his barbaric mother any longer. “Megumi, what are you..”

“This asshole is frigging rude! You should fire him now! He doesn’t deserve to work here anymore!”

“I will leave first, _kaichou_ ,” Tokiya quickly left. He could not stand with the depressing atmosphere anymore.

He simply did not care anymore.

* * *

 

**The** next thing he knew was he currently stared at Saotome Academy’s big lake helplessly. It was 12 a.m. but he still did not want to take a rest in his room. Instead, he wanted to seek some fresh air for his about-to-explode head even so far, it was to no avail.

It was to no avail because he missed his father, Ichinose Akira. The reflection of himself from the lake really reminded him with his father.

_“Otousan..”_ he muttered in despair. “What did you do wrong to deserve all of this? Why _okasan_ is such a..” he bit his lips, struggling to not curse his mother when deep inside of his heart, he always thought that Megumi deserved more than profanities. 

“She had treated me like her puppet. She wanted me to be perfect. She disapproved me when I want to be a singer, unlike you. You know what, _otousan?_ When I got my first song, I really want you to be the first person to listen to _Nanairo no Compass_. The melody is really beautiful so I was sure that you would love it but.. I totally forgot that you are no longer here.”

_“You.. with your useless father’s blood in your body... do you think being a singer is your forte? Listen here, you brat! Your father is such a loser so there is no way a successful specialist like me will live together with that asshole anymore. I picked you just because I want to prove to everyone once again that you are not a loser like your father but you paid me back with your big speech about your dream. Your big speech about how you want to be a singer!”_

Now, he even wondered what was the use for him to spend his life as Hayato if Megumi treated him like an enemy?

Why would he live as Ichinose Tokiya if his own mother would do anything to ruin his life?

Why would he try to sing if his father, the only family that he had was no longer beside him?

If my own mother treated me like that, then I guess.. nobody even cares if I exist or not, right?

As he spaced out in dispair while his mind decided to totally give up, his hand slowly took out a knife before making a long cut along his wrist.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a continuation of chapter 11.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start with chapter 11, thank you for your comment, Otaku-sannnn!

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA AND SILVERMOON249 (FOR NANAIRO NO COMPASS LYRICS)**

 

**15** minutes ago…

“What, Tomo-chan? Are you.. for real?” Haruka subconsciously went straight onto her roommate’s bed.

Tomochika grinned delightedly.

“I guess.. I was enchanted by his kindness. I mean.. Shinomiya-kun is a really gentle and caring person right? He is kind to everyone and he knows how to treat girls well,” Tomochika smiled at the thought of Natsuki while combing her long hair.

Who have thought that returning to past had led Tomochika to get interested in Natsuki?

“Yes, you are right. Shinomiya-san is so gentle to girls.”

Come to think of it, these two seemed quite close these days. Not to mention..

“No wonder those girls.. I realized that they gossip about you every time they see you.. I believe they are Shinomiya-san’s fans..”

“I know right? Some of them looked at me like I am a threat to the earth or something but I don’t want to care about it. I don’t hope for Shinomiya-kun to like me as well. I believe this is just a crush. Unlike what you feel about Ichinose-san,” Tomochika smirked wider as her best friend blushed on the spot. “Do you have any progress with him now, Haruka? Considering that he believed you when you told him everything?”

“No, not really..” she smiled as she approached the window. The rain was drizzling, reminded her of…

 Tokiya-kun? She just thought about him and there he was. Walking alone in the rain with a despondent expression, written over his face.

 Where is he going? Perhaps, he have problems with his work.. Or maybe, with his mother..

 Her husband used to tell her that when he was still Hayato, Megumi always took her chances to pick a fight with him so that he would leave the agency.

 This was a surreal déjà vu. She used to come across this situation with the late Tokiya. She quickly took an umbrella, trying to chase after him.

“Haruka, where are you going!?”

 “I just saw him, Tomo-chan!”

The door was slammed rather quickly, sending Tomochika to chuckle delightedly.

“You know what, Haruka? To see that you went all out because of Ichinose-san, you must really love him. Who had thought that a guy can make you striving this hard, just like how you are with music? Wish you all the best, Haruka.”

* * *

 

**“Tokiya-kun…”** as the composer knew where would Tokiya go every time he felt troubled, it was easy for her to find him.

But what happened next was hard for her to swallow.

_Ah… kimi dake ni todoke  
kono kaze no oto yo…_

_Feeling Heart…_

In the midst of his unspeakable sorrow, he started singing. His voice sounded a bit cracked but it was still beautiful and gentle.  
  
_mou nakanakute ii yo sono mama de ii_  
 _sora o mite　Ah… My Sweetest Love_  
  
_Blue… aoku kagayaku　hoo o tsutau sono shizuku_  
 _Rise… shitte ita kai?　asu e no hikari da to_

“He is singing the song..” before she knew it, her golden orbs were already full with tears. “It’s so beautiful.. no matter how many times I hear it..”

This is the song that made her feeling enchanted to him. Nanairo no Compass.   
  
_Truth… kimi wa tabun ne　jibun o mada yoku shiranai_  
 _sono namida wa kitto　kimi o michibiku niji ni naru_  
  
_nagai tabi ni kogoeru nara_  
 _Ah… uta de atatamete ageru yo_  
  
_kimi ga negau koto no zenbu ga hoshi ni naranai kamoshirenai_  
 _dakedo shinjiru yume de areba_  
 _ikusen aru “yozora no ichiban kirameku hazu no houseki” sa_

In spite of the nostalgia, she really wanted to hug him. She knew that he was very upset about something.

_"Otousan.."_ his sad mutter just broke her heart more. "Do you like that song? Do you want to listen to it again? Are you watching me now? I miss you so much. If only you are still here.."

“Ichinose-san...” she called him out subconsciously as she also could feel the pain that Tokiya had. 

Tokiya let out a gasp as he was surprised at Haruka’s sudden appearance.

“It’s you...” unlike his typical tone which was usually annoyed and distracted with her sudden presence, his tone right now was in utter grief and hopelessness.

Tokiya turned his back towards her, struggling to make sure that his emotions did not get the better of him. His heart was totally tore into pieces by his encounter with his mother, enough for him to not feel distracted with Haruka.

He did not give a damn about what would happen next. He was too spent to anticipate or hope for anything.

“Ichinose-san, are you okay? I am worried about you since I saw you walking alone in the rain just now,” Haruka felt hesistant to invade her husband’s personal space. The truth was, she really wanted to hug Tokiya just like how she did to him everytime he had troubles.

No words came from him. For him to struggle so much in giving full vent to whatever he felt right now, it only indicated an unspeakable pain and normally, she would wait for him until he was ready to open up to her.

“Nanami-san,” he restarted the conversation but still, his blue eyes did not meet hers. “If you really know everything about my future, can you tell me something?”

“Eh?”

“You know my mother doesn’t love me right? She abandoned me since I was 12.”

“Ichinose-san..”

“What can I do so that she will treat me as her son again? What can I do so that she will apologize to my late father for being such an ungrateful wife? Or is that too impossible?” the flat voice sounded hopeless, much to her dismay.

Because from the start, she knows what is the answer for the set of questions. She knows that Megumi left Tokiya’s father after his business went bankrupt. To make it more heart-rending, his father committed a suicide since he had nothing left especially when Megumi took Tokiya away from him.

In fact, Tokiya’s family issue never met a happy resolution. The relationship between Tokiya and Megumi remained horrible to the point of she did not even bother to attend her son’s wedding. Sadly enough, Megumi just felt guilty when Tokiya was no longer in this world. Much to everyone’s surprise, she attended his funeral. Since then, she became as depressed as Haruka.

“Or perhaps..” he chuckled bitterly. “She will treat me as her son only after my death? Should I commit a suicide then?”

“No, Ichinose-san! Please don’t,” she could not stand to be an onlooker anymore. All she wanted to do was comforting him and made him aware that he was never alone.

He had her. He had STARISH.

Yet, her attempt to get closer to him was stopped by a few drops of red and thick liquid, flowing endlessly from Tokiya’s wrist.

“Ichinose-san, could it be...” Haruka’s heart skipped a beat for a while. She grabbed the hand of his before all of sudden, a small pocket knife fell onto the ground.

“Ichinose-san, what are you doing!?” panic and anger just mixed up in her body as her eyes searched for something to cover his wrist until she found her handkerchief in her pocket. She tried to wrap his gash but Tokiya refused to be cured.

“Ichinose-san, we should go to the health centre now! Your gash looked horrible.”

“It’s none of your business. Go away.”

“How could I when you just hurt yourself!?” Haruka could not resist herself from scolding him but Tokiya did not even respond to her. “What about your dream? You come to this school because you want to sing, right? Don’t you feel it’s such a waste if you hurt yourself like this? After all this time!?”

“I’m done, Nanami-san! I lost everything that I treasure in my life. There is no use for me to work hard now. I don’t have anyone! I lost my parents for crying out loud!”

His anger and disappointment were cooled down by a warm hug from Haruka as she put her umbrella aside. 

“I am your family. I am and will always be your family, Ichinose Tokiya. Do you remember those things that I’ve told you before? I am going to be your wife. A wife means another family member for you so please don’t ever think about killing yourself because... I care about you, Ichinose-san. You are important to me.”

Tokiya was gobsmacked. To be honest, there is something about this girl which softened his heart. Everything about this girl is strange but in a pleasant way. It is impossible for him to find a girl with this kind of aura like her.

The warmness finally broke the jar of his sorrow. When she rested his head on her shoulder and making themselves sat on the wet grasses, it took the wind out of his sails. Every single attempt of her to comfort him mysteriously knocked him for six.

“I know you cannot cry that easy but I want to embrace you until you calm down. Can you give me the permission, Ichinose-san? Because...” her small hand softly caressed his shoulder before going down to his back muscle, making his blue orbs widened out of surprise. Just how casual and bold this innocent-looking girl could be with him?

 “From the way your muscle felt so stiff in my hand, I am positive you still have a lot of disappointment in yourself, right? Why don’t you give a full vent to it? I will be here for you.”

 Her voice... it was way too beautiful in his ears, especially when his name came out from her lips. He could feel the sincerity and affection from her.

“Thank you, Nanami-san,” her shoulder suddenly felt wet which she instantly knew why.

Tokiya was crying.

“Ichinose-san..” She pulled him closer while struggling to not cry as well. Especially when she  heard heart-rending sobs and pants, coming from him.

“Cry more, Ichinose-san. I will never leave you alone.”

And so he did.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it's short. But for next chapter, I promise it will be longer.. and less emotional. And also, minnasan, if you do have a thought about this story, feel free to let me know. Please don't be shy. I am really looking forward to it. Thank youuuuu!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A well-planned but turned-out-to-be absurd bonding moment between Tokiya and his friends. No Haruka in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, to Otaku_desu1, thank you for your comment! I am happy because you asked me to complete this story as soon as possible. You let me know that there are people who keep reading my story. Even I can only update once or twice per week due to some unavoidable circumstances, I will try to make this story as great as possible. And also thank you for those guests who left 'Kudos' for this story!

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA and TOKYO GHOUL**

**The** following weeks passed rather in awkward but enjoyable way for Tokiya who used to be found alone most of the time. STARISH started to meet frequently to practice for their graduate audition. Their principal personally assigned them to debut in a band so they needed to strive harder to meet the legendary singer’s expectation. 

At least, that was what Tokiya thought initially. But for the rest of the members, they insisted to do a lot of practices on purpose because they wanted to spend more time with Tokiya. They wanted the perfectionist to open up to them rather than treating them solely as his teammates.

The first step was making sure that he knew their biodata as much as possible. They tried way too hard by saying something random like;

“You know what, Tokiya? I love curry! This roommate of yours love curry!”

“Do you want to learn calligraphy, Ichinose? I bet you want to do it. We are twins after all.”

“This is the right way to twirl a rose, Icchi.”

“Oi, do you want to watch Prince of Fighting with me? It’s not fun to watch alone.”

“Tokiya-kun, do you want to know which Piyo-chan I love the most?”

“Tokiya, let’s do some Agna dances before we start practicing! First, put your hands up and..Oi, Tokiya, don’t run away from me! I am not going to snuggle against you like before! Oi, Tookiyaaaaa!”

 Thus, after spending more time with them for a few weeks, those were Tokiya’s summary about each of his teammates.

  1. Otoya – This guy is consistently cheerful, upbeat and friendly. Tokiya has always thought that Otoya must be brought up well by his parents to be this likeable until Syo secretly told him that Otoya lost his parents and aunt which led him living in an orphanage. Since then, Tokiya swore to himself to treat Otoya nicer than before. He even started to join the red head and Syo playing soccer if he had time.
  2. Masato – The other blue-haired guy in the academy other than himself. A very calm guy but the personality would be threw to the window the moment Ren got into his nerve. Masato is a conservative guy who enjoyed doing everything that you could think of the moment you described a samurai. He is also a good cook which reminded Tokiya with a typical and loving _oka-chan._
  3. Ren – Even though it was obvious that he only had his eyes on Hazuki Maaya but this charming guy is also the master of seduction art. His famous line, _“all the words that come out of my mouth are love songs. I whisper words of love and they never fail to hit my prey,”_ proved itself when he had no problems whatsoever when it comes to lyrics writing.
  4. Natsuki – A genius who just needed to find his inspiration from _Hoshi-sama_. He is good-natured with everyone and the rare species who would never be called as a pervert for randomly bearhugging girls. Yet, much to Tokiya’s surprise, this caring and selfless guy suffered from a split personality disorder due to a childhood trauma and so far, Tokiya never encountered the other personality, Satsuki. All he knew was that guy used to be violent and ill-tempered before he finally promised to Natsuki to let the guy led his life normally.
  5. Syo – He is also the rare species who beats a stereotype that a small guy is physically weak. He trained his body after suffering from a heart disease which restrained his daily life. From the others, Tokiya learned that in future, Syo used to join a match against Hyuga Yamato, another idol with a muscular and tall-built (not to mention that he is Hyuga Ryuya’s younger brother) which ended in a tie.
  6. Cecil – A prince from Agnapolis who was despised by his relatives for being half-Japanese which led them to curse him into a cat. (That was all because once Tokiya heard the word ‘cat’, he was not interested to learn more about Cecil. The more he knew the prince, the more he wanted to clobber him for being such an immoral cat).



Yet, recently, Tokiya came up with a new conclusion about them as a whole; they love to play games whenever they take a short break from practicing.

And the most recent example was the game of Truth or Dare. 

* * *

 

 **“Eh** , me?” Tokiya could not believe his own eyes as the bottle pointed towards his direction. Hi face was utterly in shock as frankly speaking, since at the beginning of the game, he continuously prayed that he would never be the ‘victim’.

Yes, they were currently playing Truth or Dare game since Ren said it would be bored if they just practiced for their graduation audition without having some fun. However, unlike others, participating in this kind of game had never been Tokiya’s forte. Generally, in Truth or Dare, people expected you as the victim to be frivolous yet the idol was totally far from being ‘frivolous’.

“Waaaa, it’s finally Tokiya’s turn!” Otoya shouted in thrill. As if Tokiya is the funniest guy ever and would guarantee the best joke or show ever to them.

“I’m glad it’s Icchi’s turn, though,” Ren smirked. “Well, Icchi. Truth or dare?”

Honestly, what’s wrong with these people? They don’t expect me to do fun things, right? Tokiya instantly felt the pressure.

“Dare.. I guess.”

“What should we give to him, huh?” Otoya rubbed his chin, obviously enjoyed the situation.

“Otoya, don’t you ever…”

“Hey, Tokiya. Actually I have a request,” Syo added, drawing attention to himself.

“What is it, Syo?” Tokiya’s face brightened a bit. Knowing Syo who is much more sensible, he believed that Syo would not make him do quirky things.

“I was wondering if you can show me how to act like Tsukiyama Shuu from Tokyo Ghoul. His character resembles the role in my latest assignment but Hyuga-sensei said that I have a long way to go,” Syo added, excitedly. “It made me sad but just now, I think that learning from you how to act as a crazy bastard is a good idea compared to the anime itself.”

The others gave a ‘wow, that’s awesome! We gotta see Tokiya’s acting right in front of us!”exclamation except Otoya, Cecil and of course, Tokiya.

“Tsukiyama what?” Tokiya stared blankly at Syo.

“Ehhh, Tokiya, you don’t know him?”

“Is he someone that I supposed to know? Then, sorry for my ignorance.”

“Nah, you don’t need to be so serious,” Syo chuckled. Now, he knew the reason why Ren and Otoya turned into mischievous brats when it comes to Tokiya. His reaction is always proper in entertaining way. “He is only an anime character but he is one of the famous roles played by Miyano Mamoru-san.”

“I see..” Tokiya already gave a gesture that he would do as Syo requested. If it was only an imitation, he was sure that he could help the boy. After all, imitation is part of acting, which is his another talent besides singing.

“Wait, Syo.. I don’t think that’s a very good idea..” Otoya whispered to the said boy.

“Eh, why? We sure can learn a lot from the flawless Tokiya..”

“Otoya, this is an acting lesson, the practical one. There is no way I will teach him straight from books,” Tokiya interrupted calmly, caused the said boy jumped slightly out of surprise.

“Eh, Tokiya… how do you know…”

“As if it’s not obvious enough,” Tokiya clicked his tongue, feeling slightly annoyed.

“Hehe.. Sorry,” Otoya just grinned like an idiot.

“So, Tokiya, can you..”

“Okay, then,” Tokiya answered. “I’ll help you, Syo.”

“Thanks, man!”

Yes, this was what he wanted. Being challenged with something that he is already expert in.

* * *

 

 **They** sure are persistent for something like this, Tokiya’s mind talked as he saw Otoya and Syo browsed the internet, trying to search for the scene that they requested him to act out.

“Found it!” Otoya shouted ecstatically. “Tokiya, this is the scene!”

Tokiya’s blue eyes widened a bit. Obviously, he was fascinated as he watched the scene where Tsukiyama Shuu, one of the antagonists in Tokyo Ghoul anime kidnapped a girl named Kimi in order to lure Kaneki, the main character of the series.

“Miyano-san is really something, isn’t he? How can he talk so creepy like that? It really gives anybody a chill,” Tokiya rubbed his chin. His smart brain analyzed the voice of Miyano Mamoru thoroughly.

“I know right,” Otoya grinned at his roommate. "Why don't you demonstrate it to us now?"

"Wait! Don't you think it's too sudden? Tokiya has to memorize the lines first.."Syo interrupted, realizing how demanding Otoya could be all of sudden when just a few minutes before, he was the one who went against this idea.

"No sweat. Tokiya already memorized the lines. Come on, Syo. Get ready to be Kaneki," Otoya pushed the small frame of Syo to the centre of their circle.

"How come you are so positive? He doesn't even say anything."

“Just trust me, Syo. Cecil, can you be Nishio for while?”

“Eh? Me?”

While the real victim (?) of this situation, Tokiya just stared at them, particularly Otoya from the corner of his eyes, feeling curios about something.

How come he knows that I already memorized the line? He is surprisingly observant, his mind wondered as he also took his spot, right in front of Syo.

 “Okay, action!” as Otoya’s loud voice resonated in the room, Tokiya inhaled deeply, totally grasped the gruesome ghoul’s role into his mind.

When he opened his eyes and registered Syo as Kaneki Ken alias his food, he smirked creepily, enough to make Syo, Otoya and Cecil flinched while Masato, Natsuki and Ren gasped in disbelief.

“Kaneki-kun, do you love Beethoven?”

 “Tsu..Tsukiyama!” Cecil tried to look offended but he sounded like he was going to cry instead once he met Tokiya’s piercing eyes.

“Nishio, I don’t remember inviting you,” Tokiya’s talking voice which usually sounded calm and soft changed drastically. It even chilled their spines as he approached them. His cool expression also was not there to be seen. Just in the blink of an eye, he was filled with the feeling of hunger.  He really wanted to eat Syo a.k.a Kaneki Ken.

“Give me back Kimi!” Cecil wanted to sound agitated again but to no avail. This was the first time for him to see Tokiya being in such a mess.

“Unfortunately I can’t do that. She’s here to add spice to tonight’s banquet. I want to let Kaneki eat her at her maximum freshness,” Tokiya replied as he pointed out at poker-faced Masato who suddenly became the said Kimi since they did not pick anybody in particular to be the female character.

“To be more precise, I want to eat Kaneki while he eats her! That’s what I want!!”

“Er.. you nasty.. I mean.. you dirty bastard…” Cecil started to mix up with the dialogues for a while as he could not bear with the sight of the psychopath version of Tokiya.

“Y..you’re perverted,” Syo started to tremble hard.

Tokiya is not possessed by any random demon, right? He’s just acting, right? Syo asked himself as he started to perspire out of fear.

“Perverted? That’s surprising. Supposing that’s how you feel…” Tokiya swiftly approached Syo and for the athlete, to be this close with a bigger guy with an abnormal appetite and a desire to eat him like a lunatic was the worst thing ever. “Kaneki-kun, you’re the one who’s making me do this, so you bear responsibility for it. You’d better realize how delicious you really are.”

How delicious you really are? Both Syo and Cecil’s legs started to wobble as Tokiya whispered with a rather sinister voice.

“That’s all you guys need to do,” Tokiya’s poker face returned to its place yet it was not enough to restore the peace in that room. Instead, he could see the ashen faces of Cecil, Syo and Otoya (who out of nowhere, joined the hugging bunch with the other two). The other three who were sensible enough to perceive his imitation as a mere acting just gave a round of applause.

“That’s cool,Tokiya-kun!” Natsuki exclaimed as he was totally in a fanboy mode.

“Guys, what happened? Why are you guys…” as Tokiya approached the scaredy cats which consisted of Syo, Otoya and Cecil, they stepped even further from him. It was like they were afraid that the normally-herbivorous Tokiya who just turned into a barbaric carnivore a few minutes ago would jump and eat them senselessly .

“Please.. please stay away from us..” Syo said desperately while waving his hand towards Tokiya like getting rid of mosquitoes.

“Why?” Tokiya almost exploded with their regular dramatic responses every time something happened.

“Waaaaaaaaaa!!” unable to endure the ultra scare, those three idiots hugged each other. Their scream got louder and too dramatic, begging for the ‘monster’ in front of them to spare their life before…

“Tokiya’s scary!!!” Otoya screamed again before storming off for his life, followed by Syo and Cecil. As fast as lightning (with their athletic ability as a bonus point), they disappeared from Tokiya’s sight.

“Guys, why are they..” the purple idol turned to his other three teammates, expecting a sensible explanation.

“They ran away after seeing your acting, Tokiya-kun,” Natsuki being his usual self, in a fanboy mode with a cheerful tone. “Totally saw that coming.”

“Wait, what’s that even mean, Shinomiya san?”

“Your acting is way too perfect, Icchi.. It gave them goose pimples,” Ren chuckled, feeling entertained to see the dumbfounded and discontented face of Tokiya.

“Of course I have to do it in a perfect way. Or else, how do you expect me to teach them?”

“Well, in the future, you used to help me to act out a hugging scene. You played a role as my lover. Just like what Jinguji said, your acting was way too perfect. It gave me a chill to the point of we failed for so many times. So, as one of the victims, I can relate to them. Such poor souls,” Masato said with a sympathetic voice. He made it as if Tokiya just abused them physically, much to the blue-haired boy’s dismay.

 “Just so you know, I wasn’t the one who offered myself to teach them from the first and yet, when I really tried to help..”

“Tokiya-kun?” Natsuki’s eyes widened a bit, feeling unsettled with how Tokiya’s voice sounded.

“Such a waste for my time. I should do something else instead of trying to teach those who cannot be professional,” with his dark purple aura, he walked out from the training room, much to their surprise.

“He’s mad. What should we do?” Natsuki asked the other two.

“I guess that we should let _Ochibi-chan_ , Cesshi and Ikki or perhaps Hijirikawa himself to comfort Icchi,” Ren answered nonchalantly.

“What? Why me?” Masato’s jaw dropped to the sudden suggestion.

“You said that you’re one of the victims. Icchi must feel that you don’t appreciate his favor at all,” Ren’s answer made Masato lost his usual power to argue back with Ren’s irritating remarks. Reluctantly, he knew Ren was right.

“Ah, Hijirikawa is so mean. I deliberately asked everyone especially Icchi to join this game since I know Icchi still feels awkward around us but Hijirikawa totally ruined the atmosphere.”

“Oi, Jinguji!”

“This is the first time Tokiya-kun fought with Masato-kun, right? This is interesting. Well, fighting with your friends is a normal thing so good luck with your apology seeking, Masato-kun,” Natsuki patted Masato’s shoulder even he received a scowl from his classmate.

“What are you waiting for, Hijirikawa? It’s not nice of you to let Icchi’s anger lasts longer..” Ren and Natsuki grinned at each other, obviously enjoyed themselves to make Masato felt guiltier.

“You guys… why are you guys targeting me now? Wait, where are you going!?” Masato got anxious as Ren and Natsuki casually left the training room.

“I had promised Ren-kun to play a table tennis today so see ya, Masato-kun!” Natsuki waved happily before leaving Masato.

“Hijirikawa, if you want to apologize to Icchi, please inform us. Shinomi and I really want to be your supporter,” Ren shouted before excusing himself from Masato’sight, following Natsuki.

Those jerks… Masato sighed angrily.

* * *

 

 **What** a ridiculous turn of event, Masato exhaled in dissatisfaction while walking along the corridor with the upset face of Tokiya in his mind. He recalled what on earth he and his teammates had been doing recently.

How did it end up like this again? He rubbed his chin slowly, trying to generate clouds which consisted of events that led him, out of those people to apologize to Tokiya.

They practiced for their graduation audition.

They played Truth or Dare since Ren suggested it.

Syo challenged Tokiya to play a role as Tsukiyama Shuu since Tokiya is the most experienced actor among them.

Being as perfectionist as he is, Tokiya did his best in guiding Syo but it turned out that his acting was too impeccable, much to those three idiots’ fright.

And when the puzzled Tokiya needed an acceptable explanation, he, Masato, alias the one of so-called Tokiya’s victims said something that offended the purple idol.

Stupid Masa! Still unable to believe that he was the one who needed to apologize at the end, he mentally facepalmed while calling himself with one of his nicknames, given by Otoya.

Finally he arrived in front of Tokiya and Otoya’s shared room. He inhaled nervously before knocking the door.

So this is the feeling when you have done something wrong to Ichinose. It does feel tense, he agreed in his mind. Compared to other members in STARISH, he never offended Tokiya and vice versa. Like others always acknowledged, these two so-called twins that are separated since birth are very alike so everything that they did together always ended up smoothly.

“Ichinose, can I have a talk with you for a second?” he made his baritone voice a bit louder, feeling worried that Tokiya might be way too focused on his reading (the verb that he most probably does once he is in his room) to hear the knocking sound coming from the door.

A few seconds passed before the door in front of him was opened by a red head, not a blue head like he expected.

“Ittoki?”

“Masa?”

* * *

 

 ** _Baka!_** He almost wanted to shout but at the same time, he insisted to not draw any attention to himself. He really needed to be alone now, to clear his head.

Tokiya sighed heavily. Frankly speaking, the stupid one was him. How could he sulk over Masato’s honest opinion about his acting? How could he become upset when Syo, Cecil and Otoya felt so scared with that Tsukiyama Shuu version of him?

No, he did not sulk over that or to tell you the truth, he did not sulk in the first place. He just…

He just felt like cursing himself for not being able to get along with his friends.

They played the game because they wanted to have fun but him…

Being the party pooper as some people used to call him before, not only he could not entertain them when it was his turn yet he succeed in scaring them instead. He also felt frustrated since he failed to help them when it seemed like they really banked on him.

Ahhhh, how useless and idiotic could he be in terms of being sociable? Can somebody just knock some senses on him now?

Anyone can be…

“Tokiya-kun!” a bubbly voice hit his ears.

“Yo, Icchi!” a super seductive voice (according to many articles written by female reporters in the school) followed, causing him to turn to the direction.

It seemed like _Kami-sama_ granted his prayer on the spot.

“You guys..”

“What are you doing here, Tokiya kun?” Natsuki asked before sitting beside Tokiya.

“That should be my line, Shinomiya-san,” Tokiya did not have any intention to sound mean in the first place but he was in desperation to not let anybody seeing through his feeling.

How much he felt like slapping himself for not being able to get along with them despite of being part of STARISH.

“Well, we just wonder if you want someone to talk to,” Ren interrupted, much to the blue-haired idol’s annoyance.

“Talking about what?”

“About how you think that you still cannot get along with us,” Tokiya’s eyes widened as he heard the sincerity and seriousness in Natsuki’s voice.

“Icchi, Shinomi and I can somehow figure out what are you thinking now. Come on, don’t be so secretive. It’s not good to hide your feelings all the time,” Ren’s voice filled with concern even though it still sounded playful.

Tokiya sighed. “I hate how a pair of pranksters like you guys are the one who said something smart like that...”

“Hihi,” both the bigger guys just grinned, feeling proud with the ‘prankster’ title.

* * *

 

 **“Tokiya** is not here. We also tried to find him to apologize but he was nowhere to be seen,” Otoya shrugged.

“You jerks,” Masato did not waste any seconds to put the blame on Otoya. “Don’t you think that all this nonsenses happened because of you guys?”

“Yes, we know,” out of nowhere, Syo interrupted their conversation, looking guilty with Cecil behind him.

“And I need to apologize to him as well..”

“Ehhh??? But why??” those three shorter boys shouted in unison. For them, it would be the end of the world if Masato was the one who fought with Tokiya.

“Because I said that you guys were scared of his flawless acting just like how I was when he used to play a role as a girl to help me.”

Instead of making them guiltier, Masato’s answer gave a totally different and absurd effect. 

“So basically, all of this happened because of Masa?” Otoya asked, innocently.

“Erkk?”

“Hijirikawa is the one who made Tokiya exploded,” Syo pointed his black-nail finger to Masato, much to the lad’s shock.

“I don’t know Masato can be mean sometimes, let alone with Tokiya, his twin,” Cecil shook his head in disbelief.

“Hey, please just don’t come up with such a random conclusion. Just so you know, you guys are also responsible for this!”

“In any case, we should find him and apologize,” Otoya said, followed by Syo and Cecil’s nods. “I know Tokiya long enough to guarantee that he forgives people quite easily. Just believe in me.”

“Let’s find him!” Syo exclaimed, resembling a warrior who was determined to start a vendetta.

“And when we finally find him, Masa will lead us in order to apologize to Tokiya.”

“Yoshh!!”

“Oiii, why me!?”

* * *

 

 **“It’s** easy for you guys to say that. You guys are naturally sociable, Ren, Shinomiya-san. I cannot be like you both,” Tokiya currently opened up to those said guys. He hates to admit it but when he initially disapproved Ren’s flamboyant personality and Natsuki’s over cheerfulness, he still feels comfortable with them. They are surprisingly mature and easily notice every single change among the members’ personality.

“Well, I know you are an introvert and these kind of people need space and time for themselves but my point is, when you have problems, you can always come to us. You don’t need to suppress them anymore, Icchi…” while busy twirling a rose that came out of nowhere, Ren offered him a good advice as a friend.  

“That’s what friends are for, Tokiya-kun. Honestly, I feel sad if you only see us as teammates instead of your friends..”

“Ren, Shinomiya-san…” words could not describe how he felt so warm as he heard the sincerity from those two pranksters’ words.

“Ichinose!”

“Tokiya!”

The trio turned their heads, feeling a bit shocked to see Masato, Cecil, Syo and Otoya suddenly stormed towards them.

“We are sorry!” their shouts and bows made Tokiya flinched while Natsuki founded them so cute.

“We know that we are wrong! We are ignorant! We are sorry!” It was like Syo, Cecil and Otoya already wrote a script for their apology. “You tried so hard to help us but we ran away like that. It was so rude of us to do that.”

“Ichinose, I am sorry for offending you. I don’t mean that your attempt to help me was totally useless. To tell you the truth, all this time, I really look up to you. Please, don’t get angry anymore,” Masato’s deep voice sounded more dramatic than usual.

For a few seconds, Tokiya remained silent before making eye contacts with Ren and Natsuki. The taller lads just nodded and smiled chummily.

“Well, since all of you guys are here, I want to confess something. Thanks to Ren and Shinomiya-san, the light finally dawned.”

Masato, Cecil, Otoya and Syo gave a confused look before Tokiya continuing.

“Well, frankly speaking, I don’t get angry with you guys. I mean.. you guys don’t need to apologize because the problematic one here is me. I have a hard time to get used with this STARISH idea, let alone getting along with you guys. You see… I am so used to be alone. I took care of everything all by myself because of some unavoidable circumstances and that reason alone made me thinking that I didn’t need friends. But, since I have met you guys, starting from Otoya who I treated as a nuisance at the beginning, I sing with you guys, doing some crazy things like cross-dressing, I think that my perception about you guys or friends in general has changed.”

He encouraged his eyes to make contact with theirs. “Just now, Ren and Shinomiya-san told me everything. They told me that all this time, you guys are concerned about me, you guys want me to open up.. Thank you very much but I need to admit to something,” apparently, it was surprisingly good to be open up.“Making new friends is not my strong point since I was small. In fact, I was called as antisocial many times by people around me. But, since I have met you guys..I.. I just love everything when you guys are around. It’s hard to say (Ren: or rather, it’s embarrassing to say), oh, shut up, Ren..but you guys have changed my life in any ways that I can think of and now, I can see why STARISH is so meaningful to you guys. That Tokiya who was dead from protecting Nanami-san… I know he felt so lucky to have friends like you guys.”

All of them smiled warmly at him. All of sudden, the longing for Tokiya that they suppressed so hard in their hearts appeared but instead of coming in synch with a pain, the longing felt much cozier. They were so grateful that they could return to the past and made this 17 years old Tokiya happier.

“Waaaa, Tokiyaa, you made me feel touched! Can I hug you?” Otoya suddenly cried but his voice clearly showed that he was delighted.

“What? No!”

“It’s a yes then,” Natsuki took the lead as he bearhugged Tokiya tightly. “Tokiya-kun, you look so cute when you blushed like that!”

“Tokiya is so cuteeee!” Tokiya was sandwiched between Otoya and Natsuki and it made him hard to catch oxygen.

“Waaa, let me go!”

Syo and Cecil chuckled before joining the hugging bunch. Masato and Ren just smiled gratefully from their spot.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for chapter 12! I included a bit of Tokyo Ghoul on purpose because since both Tsukiyama and Tokiya shared the same voice actor, I just wonder what happen if Tokiya acts out as Tsukiyama? His soft and deep voice voice will be higher and creepier of course! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this story. Please let me know what do you think about it or other chapters. Arigatou!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of shoujo anime-type moment between Haruka and Tokiya.

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA**

 

**Two** weeks passed and it was time for the mid – semester exam. Like STARISH members, Haruka also burned the midnight oil. Yet, much to her wonder, she never came across Tokiya since then. Instead, he just simply left a few messages to her via Otoya, stating that his schedule as Hayato was packed again.

“I am also worried about him, Nanami. We just had a good time during our practice before since he has opened up more to us but his schedule was tight again. Most of the time, he only came back to dorm in the morning. I am surprised that he never collapsed.”

That was Otoya’s answer. Haruka could somehow presume that maybe Hayato’s manager could find out about the fact that he led a double life so he deliberately stuffed everything into Hayato’s schedule in order to stop Tokiya from going to school.

“Well, so far, he just started coming to school since the first day of exam but you know what? He looked weary. He was caught sleeping a few times by Hyuga sensei and sometimes, he finished answering the paper in a short time before excusing himself,” Syo answered her.

All Haruka could do was hoping that despite of his hectic schedule, Tokiya still managed to take care of his constitution.

* * *

 

**“Lady,** where are you? Oh, is that so? Nothing. It’s just that.. Icchi is currently sleeping in our class. Yeah, Icchi. Can you come here and check on him? He seems ill, though.. Okay, you’re welcome.”

“Are we supposed to wake him up first, Ren? I bet he still have another work to do after this,” Syo pointed out as soon as Ren finished informing Haruka about Tokiya’s whereabouts. He gazed at Tokiya, who was sleeping in their class, with a hand supported his chin and a pair of black headphones over his ears.  

 “Nah, I don’t think his work will start any soon or else, Icchi won’t even dare to sleep soundly like that. Moreover, we need to make Lady teaching him some lessons for disregarding his health. Just look at him. Sleeping while wearing that thing.. I bet he is trying to revise for the exam in his dream.”

“Yeah, you got a point there, Ren,” Syo nodded. “Not to mention that he is always the one who manages to sleep while sitting still like that. I bet, that’s one of the skills that an idol should master. Sleeping while sitting since you are so busy to do it properly.”

“By the way, did I tell you to go back to your dorm? Why are you still here?” Ren suddenly remarked. His face expression obviously looked uncomfortable with Syo’s presence, much to the small boy’s annoyance.  

“And what about you? Why are YOU even here? You should let Nanami taking care of Tokiya by herself instead of being some back-seat driver,” Syo stretched his head upward as an attempt to match Ren’s eye level but of course, it was to no avail. Their height difference was no jokes, apparently.

“I have some things to do. You should go back to your dorm instead,” Ren still insisted to shoo Syo but the pink idol obviously did not get him.

“I don’t want. I want to look after Tokiya a bit,” Syo crossed his arms, showing his unnecessary perseverance.

“Or perhaps.. _Ochibi-chan_..” Ren glanced at the dark corridor before smirking mischievously. “Are you afraid to walk alone because the corridor is dark?”

Auch, such a smack on the head!

“It’s only five in the evening. What are you so scared of, _Ochibi-chan_?”

“Sh..Shut up!”

“Jinguji-san, Syo-kun!” their conversation was interrupted by Haruka who was followed by Tomochika, right behind her.  

“Ah, Lady.. Speak of the devil,” both Ren and Syo smiled chummily to the rosette and her best friend.

“Is he still sleeping?” Haruka’s attention quickly averted to the guy who she could not take her eyes off.

“Yup.”

“Should we wake him up first? I bet he still has a work to do after this,” Tomochika remarked.

“That’s what I told this dude just now,” Syo replied while giving Ren a ‘I told you’ look.

“But instead of waking him up, why don’t you take a glance at him first, Lady?”

“Eh, why?” despite of the confusion, Haruka still obeyed the scion.

Yet, instead of merely glancing, she ended up staring lovingly at Tokiya. The tired but handsome face did not just urge her on taking care of him but…

“I bet Haruka is thinking ‘he looks like an angel when he sleeps’ or ‘he looks so handsome when he sleeps like that’ right now,” Tomochika’s cheeky remark sent the composer blushing.

“Or ‘seeing him sleeping like that, I really want to kiss him’. Something you can see from a _shoujo_ anime,” Ren’s smirk only made Haruka felt worse because apparently, all those cheesy guesses were correct.

“You guys, please don’t say something like that!”

“But don’t you think this is the perfect way for you to make your love story like a _shoujo anime_? You told Ikki that you want to start over with Icchi, right? This is one of the precious chances that you should never let go, Lady.”

“But.. I don’t want to make him thinking that I am pushy.”

No one realized that in the midst of the tease, Syo was the only one who did not seem to be as amused as them.

So, that’s how Nanami will look like when she really cares about her husband. You’re so lucky, Tokiya.

“Right, _Ochibi-chan? Ochibi-chan?_ Oi!” Ren gave the small boy a jab in the stomach when he gained himself no responses.

“Eh? Ah, right, right!” Syo tried to sound natural. “What about you, Shibuya? Heading straight to the dorm?”

“Ah, no. Actually, I need to see Shinomiya-kun for a while,” Tomochika’s pretty face suddenly blushed.

“It looks like we can expect another couple from our group, huh?” Ren’s comment only made Syo’s smile faded away.

“It’s not like that, Jinguji-san,” Tomochika turned redder before dragging Ren and Syo along with her. “Let’s give Haruka and Ichinose-san some privacy, shall we? Haruka, see you at the dorm, okay?”

“Okayyy. Thank you, _minnasan_ ,” Haruka waved to the trio until they were no longer in her sight.

* * *

 

**As** the composer approached Tokiya, the blue head still slept soundly. Haruka took a seat in front of him before brushing a lock of hair from his eyes.

Staring at him up close, Haruka instantly recalled those naughty remarks from his friends.

_He looks like an angel when he sleeps._

_He looks so handsome when he sleeps like that._

_Seeing him sleeping like that, I really want to kiss him._

Ahhh, how could they read my mind that easy? Maybe that’s what a wife in the entire universe will think when she sees her husband’s sleeping face, she closed her blushing face with her delicate hands before staring at Tokiya again.

I wish I can kiss him but we are at school. It will be too risky. Not to mention Ichinose-san will not feel pleased about that, she stroked his cheek before automatically flinching at its temperature.  

He’s burning!

“Ichi.. Ichinose-san!” she had no choices but to wake him up.

Screw the ‘ _seeing him sleeping like that, I really want to kiss him’_ thing. His health is way more important right now!

Knowing Tokiya who used to be her husband for two years, waking him up would be an easy thing to do but not for today.

It took a while for him to wake up.

“Nanami-san..” he slowly opened his blue orbs. “You are here…What time is it?”

“It’s five o’clock. Why are you sleeping here? You are burning, Ichinose-san…” she asked as he took off his headphones. The dark circles around his eyes turned visible while his face was ashen. “Did you go to the health centre?”

“I did but the doctor asked me to rest for a few days. Unfortunately I can’t. I had a work at 6.30. The dorm is way too far from the school gate so I thought I would take a nap here while waiting for the taxi. Thank you for waking me up, Nanami-san.”

 “It’s okay. I know you are so tired. Ittoki-kun and Syo-kun told me about you so I was worried and searched for you everywhere. Thank God you are here,” she let out a sigh of relief. “By any chance, do you have a drama shooting this evening?”

“Yes.”

“Is the female lead..Yuma Risa?”

“Yes. How do you know that?”

“It’s just a guess. Moreover, they keep saying that Hayato and her are match from heaven or something,” Haruka tried to suppress the jealousy as she talked.

“I think it’s because we co-starred in more than three dramas so that was bound to happen.”

“Do you guys have a kissing scene together? Are you going to kiss her?” she knew she sounded impatient and possessive but she could not help it. Not after she knows that after she and Tokiya announced their marriage, Yuma Risa had openly said to mass media that she was in love with an idol from a popular band but the guy was stolen by someone else and when she asked other STARISH members about it, all of them said,

“Obviously she talked about Tokiya/Icchi/Ichinose/Tokiya-kun. That girl always stared at him so intently whenever she had a chance. There were also rumors that she tried to kiss him a few times but Tokiya rejected her.”

“No. Not this time,” Tokiya’s simple answer was enough for her to be relieved. “Why though?”

“Nothing. Just a random question,” she answered him in a trice.”By the way, Ichinose-san..When is the last time you grab foods? May I give you some? You will collapse in the middle of work if you don’t eat..”

“I..” it took a while for him to answer since his head started spinning.

“You haven’t eat anything, right?” the way she looked at him was full of concern and it made him touched. “Here,” she took out tablets, a chocolate bun and a drink from her bag before giving them to him.

“Thank you..” he replied weakly as he took those foods from her yet frankly speaking, he did not have any appetite to swallow even a sip of water. He was way too ill.

“You’re welcome. Even you don’t have an appetite, you should try to eat slowly.”

He smiled bitterly while staring at her.

“Ichinose-san, what’s wrong?”

 “Eh? No.. nothing. It’s just that..”

“You are not used to be taken care like this.”

The blue orbs widened a bit, making her chuckled.

“I am sorry if I freaked you out but after I fell in love with you and got married, I always observed everything about you and I ended up…”she suddenly gasped and blushed. “I.. I am sorry, Ichinose-san! I sounded like a crazy fan girl, right? Right?”

“No,you are not..” Tokiya answered right away. “I cannot expect less from someone who can guess what I think, someone who knows about my scars when we are not even married yet..”

She blushed again, much to Tokiya’s enjoyment. At least the presence of this girl could cheer him up.

This girl did cheer him up before his head started spinning again.

No, Tokiya. Don’t pass out. You still have a lot of works to do, Tokiya desperately motivated himself to act stronger. He did not want Haruka to get more worried so he decided to leave now.

“I got to go now. Thanks for the foods and medicine. I will consume them in the taxi.”

“Okay,” she really did not want him to leave but this is not a drama whereby you can just ignore your work and then you can come back home safely without you paying for the consequences.

But, still, her protective instinct kicked in so she decided to..

“I will wait for you to come back here, Ichinose-san. At what time?”

He paused for a while.

“Tonight, about 11 o-clock. Thank you, Nanami-san.”

Meanwhile..

Those two future idols from S Class just strolled along the lake, going straight to their dorms.

_“Ne, Ochibi-chan..”_

“What?” Syo muffled.

“You are awfully quiet. Something’s wrong?”

“What.. what do you mean something’s wrong, you idiot?” Syo spontaneously lifted his head up after getting himself provoked by Ren.

Ren chuckled bitterly as he could get a better look at Syo’s obviously gutted face.

“That’s why I said you should leave first just now, _Ochibi-chan._ Or else, you have to see how loving Little Lamb looked when she stared at Icchi.”

Syo bit his lips, suddenly feeling guilty to misunderstand Ren when in reality..

The ex-playboy knows just how much Syo loves Haruka. Ren just did not want him to feel hurt..for the nth time. 

“For someone who is so laid-back and half-assed, you sure are very considerate, Ren.”

“I’ll take it as ‘thank you’ then. Next time, when I ask you to just go back to the dorm despite of how scary the corridor looks, you should do that. Obviously, it’s better for you to see ghosts than Lady’s loving face.”

“Shut up!” 

* * *

 

**“I** think I start to fall in love with Tomo-chan.”

That was Natsuki’s confession when he accompanied Haruka in order to wait for Tokiya. Both of them were waiting in the gazebo, not far from the school gate while enjoying the night view.

“Eh? Really?” Haruka smiled brightly. “Since when?”

“I don’t know,” Natsuki chuckled since he really meant it. He always thought that Tomochika’s upbeat personality is interesting but he was too oblivious to treat the feeling as love until he realized it recently. “But every time I see her, I feel strangely happy.”

So he and Tomo-chan do love each other but they are not aware about it. Should I tell him then?

“Hey, that’s Tokiya-kun!”

 Haruka quickly looked at the school gate before her eyes served the sight of a blue-haired boy, walking slowly into the school compound.

“Ichinose-san!”

“Is it me or Tokiya-kun looks too pale?”

“He is sick. Ichinose-san!”

The cobalt blue eyes wandered, trying to search for the voice but his vision was way too blurry. His manager, Megumi and the president were annoyingly brutal these days. They assigned him for countless jobs, just for the sake of gaining more popularity. They knew how he loves perfection so either he likes it or hates it, he would do his job perfectly and when Ichinose Tokiya does something perfect, it will be a sure-fire success.

Well, maybe just for once in his life, he should be a troublemaker in variety shows by picking a fight with one of the compĕres so that in future, he would not be invited again. As for dramas, maybe he should not memorize the actual script and instead, just blurting out whatever lines from Otoya’s favourite tv show so that, he would end up getting dropped out of the dramas. The news about him being such a skank would spread around and nobody would be sane enough to involve him in any projects anymore. Hayato’s career would be no longer a career and this persona of him would vanish completely. 

Tokiya dragged himself for a few steps before finally, his body could no longer stand with the hot temperature. He swayed a bit before collapsing on the ground, enough to make Haruka gasped in horror.

“Ichinose-san!” she did not even bother to take her umbrella along. Her eyes were already full with tears as Tokiya did not move anymore.

“Ichinose-san, wake up!” She put his head onto her lap. She patted his cheeks, trying to get his attention but to no avail. Instead, his half-opened blue eyes stared blankly at her while his chest was struggling to inhale oxygen.

At the same time, Natsuki was calling his friends, seeking for a help.

“Ichinose-san, can you hear me? Ichinose-san!”

Yet, he was too weak. His blue orbs were shut slowly, sending Haruka in neurotic.

“Ichinose-san!” she shook his shoulders out of panic yet he remained unconcious.

“Haru-chan, don’t worry. Ren-kun already called his driver to pick us up. Let me carry Tokiya-kun first, ” Natsuki slowly reached Tokiya’s waist as he carefully put the fainted boy’s arm around his shoulder.

She nodded helplessly. She could not think straight anymore and with her overflew panic, it was wise to ask Natsuki to accompany her tonight. Unlike his appearance, the roommate of Syo was much calmer to deal with such a nerve-wrecking situation.

* * *

 

**Currently,** they were in Hayato’s house. As they were informed by Otoya (who always sneaked a look at Tokiya’s diary to check his schedule) that Tokiya would have a packed schedule tomorrow, they did not want the president nor Hayato’s manager to look for Tokiya if he was not in the house because it might lead both of them to find out the truth about Tokiya studying in Saotome Academy.

“He needs to rest for a few days. He pushed his body out of its limit and if he continues with such a hectic lifestyle, I am afraid if he can last longer. If you care about that friend of yours, please make sure he keeps both work and rest balanced,” Jinguji family’s private doctor, Dr. Handa remarked.

Ren and Natsuki already left Tokiya in the care of Haruka. She could feel the same jitters on the first night of their marriage appeared again, especially when Ren said..

“Please do us a favour, Lady. Please take a good care of him. Let him know how much you love him.”

Her heart pounded with nervousness. It has been a while for her to be in the same room with the love of her life. Only two of them even Tokiya was currently sleeping soundly.

Haruka took a seat beside sleeping Tokiya. His face was too pale while from the way he breathed, she knew how weak his constitution was. Just how much works he was going to take?

She rested her tiny hand on his forehead before flinching at its temperature. She quickly got a bowl of water and with her handkerchief, she rinsed it in the water before wiping his whole face before going down to his neck.

Haruka put the soaked handkerchief on Tokiya’s forehead. A few minutes passed with her staring at him tenderly. Her hand brushed through his soft blue lock, making sure they did not poke his shut eyes.

“Your hair is getting long, Tokiya.”

_“I thought you like it long.”_

In the blink of an eye, the feeling of warmness and happiness that she could feel only when he was around kept her feeling in an unspeakable state. Even the voice of Tokiya only resonated in her mind but she could not help but feeling despondent and delighted in unison.      

She slowly crawled onto the bed before resting her head beside the sleeping guy. She really missed the moment whereby she would end her day with Tokiya next to her and when she woke up in the morning, she would be greeted with his smiles and touches.

If this is the only night where I can spend together with him, it is enough for me.

As she was worried about how the next day would greet her, she rested her head on Tokiya’s stiff shoulder while her arm embraced his waist slowly.

“Goodnight, Tokiya,” she pecked his burning cheek before shutting her golden eyes.

This is too good to be true. If this is only a dream, you can say that this is the best dream ever for her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for chapter 13! I will update the next chapter after a few days. Thanks for the Kudos!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A string of surprises for Tokiya...

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA AND SILVERMOON249 (FOR ‘BELIEVE MY VOICE’ LYRICS)

**In** the morning, Haruka was greeted with the sight of the rest of STARISH members, visiting Tokiya.

“Yo, Little Lamb,” Ren winked cheekily, followed by smiles from the rest.

 _“Minna-san,”_ she smiled brightly as all of them were standing outside the door.

“How is Ichinose doing?” Masato started the conversation.

“He’s still sleeping,” Haruka opened the door wider, giving space to those big guys to welcome themselves into the sumptous house. “But I guess his fever has cooled down now.”

“Are we allowed to get into his house like this?” Syo pointed out despite of letting himself in. “Will Tokiya get mad, Nanami?”

“I don’t think so, though. Judging from the way he had been dramatic before, saying that he likes it when we are around, I think he will be healthier if he sees our faces,” Otoya replied while his red orbs stared around the house in awe.

A few seconds passed when they observed around the house which was occupied with luxurious furnitures.

“Wow, I have no idea that Tokiya-kun has this kind of luxurious house. Well, considering how many works he had done as Hayato, you could not expect less from him,” Natsuki commented in amazement.

“This apartment is too Tokiya,” Syo clicked his tongue.

“I know right? The concept itself.. it’s way too same with our room,” Otoya stared intently at the shelf which was full with trophies of The Best Actor and The Best Variety Show Star awards.

When they were about to gather at Tokiya’s room, they could hear the sound of someone talking outside the house.

“Crap! You guys, there is someone out there! No, it’s two. Two people.”

“Is it Hayato’s president? His voice sounds familiar,” Natsuki exclaimed out of panic.

“Whoever it is, we need to hide!” Cecil suggested.

“Come on, Nanami!” Syo grabbed the composer’s hand before joining the others, hiding behind a black cupboard.

As expected from a president of a talent agency who got too inquisitive with his singer’s personal life, Seichiro did not have any problem to ‘trespass’ Tokiya’s apartment since he knows the password and he had the right to do so.

Yet, to their shock and bewilderment, Megumi was also there, being all clingy with her husband.

“That’s Tokiya’s mother...” Otoya stared intently at the gorgoeus lady.

“Judging from how stuck-up she looks, nobody could guess that she had cried a lot when Tokiya was dead,” Syo commented, bitterly. 

“He is still sleeping..” they could see that Seichiro felt sorry to the singer. “Maybe I pushed him too hard.”

You almost made him dead, you geezer! Haruka clenched her fist, struggling to hold herself from suddenly punching the sense out of Seichiro.

 However, his so-called way of showing sympathy was cut-short by the catty Megumi.

“Obviously he cannot take care of himself well so why bother picking him up? Let’s replace him with Zen instead. He will be more suitable to meet the minister as Zen has a better image than this frivolous comedian.”

“What the f..” Syo was about to curse when Natsuki quickly closed his mouth.

“Syo-chan, calm down.”

“But Hayato is the major reason why my company becomes well-know in the first place, so it makes sense for the minister to meet him,” Seichiro’s answer sent the woman rolling her eyes, making her looked more annoying than she usually was.

 _Oka-san_ , what the hell are you saying? If you only knew that you will regret it when he leaves us...

As Haruka quickly focused her golden eyes on the drama in front of her, Tokiya slowly woke up from his deep sleep. Probably because of Megumi’s high-pitch voice.

 _“Kaichou?”_ his weak voice felt stuck in his throat as his blue orbs met his mother’s. A sudden happiness hit his chest and it showed through his pale face when at the same time, he tried to stay neutral.

“He is obviously happy to see his mum visiting him, right?” Otoya said, sadly.

“When his mother in fact doesn’t even care about him,” Ren added, much to the others’ grief. As someone who lost his mother in a young age, Ren surely knows how Tokiya feels.

At least, he knows how much his late mother loves him. Unlike Tokiya..

“Are you alright, Hayato? Himura just told me that he got a text from you, saying that you had a fever.”

“Huh? A text?” Tokiya’face looked blank while Haruka ...

“I got caught,” Haruka bit her lips nervously.

“Nanami/Haru-chan/Little Lamb?” Otoya, Natsuki and Ren threw a confused look which later turned into smirks to the sheepish girl. They totally could guess what the heck Haruka has done for the sake of Tokiya.

“ _Ettoo_... Himura-san sent him a text, asking where he is. Since I somehow can guess what is his password so I thought it might be proper if I reply the text.”

But the smirks were getting more mischivious from the trio.

“ _Minna-san,_ don’t smirk like that.”

“ _Hai, hai._ Guys, enough with the teasing already,” Ren regained his focus to watch the drama in front of him.

“So, Tokiya also that kind of husband who shared everything with his wife including his cell phone’s password,” Cecil mumbled.

“Yes, a text. You did tell him that you are sick, right? I just want to ensure that you are okay but you are way too pale. I guess, I can make your schedule empty for today and apologize to the minister. You need to take a rest for today, Hayato. I will take Zen with me instead.”

“But, _kaichou,_ I am totally fine! I promise I will do my best to take care of my health. Please, president! Let me go with you,” since he was so desperate to continue with his work and the fact that Zen was the one who took over him would lead Megumi to degrade him even more, Tokiya totally ignored the question in his head about when the hell did he send a text to Himura.

“That workaholic bastard! Does he even have idea that he is still sick?” Syo complained sotto voce.

“No, Hayato. This is an order from me. Get a rest until you get back on your feet. It’s okay. There are still a lot of programs for you.”

“But _kaichou,_ I...”

Suddenly, Seichiro received a call from his smartphone before excusing himself, leaving Megumi and Tokiya... again.

“Excuse me. Megumi, can you wait for me here?”

“Okay, sure,” the sight of Megumi with her plastic smile seemed too unbearable for Haruka, especially when it quickly faded the moment Seichiro was no longer in her sight.

“Oh my... when the president left them, this house suddenly becomes downright awkward,” Syo commented, feeling unsettled.

 _“Oka-san...”_ Tokiya was about to break the silence when Megumi quickly raised her palm in front of his face.

“Please don’t misunderstand, Hayato-san. I am here simply because I am accompanying my husband. He himself wanted to pick you up because he thought you are so special as a celebrity but you, being sick like this... it’s enough to show that you are not competent enough to be my husband’s masterpiece. Can you just quit and get rid of yourself?”

Haruka’s heart tore apart as she saw the look of Tokiya.

It was full of pain, especially when those harsh words came from his own mother.

She just could not stand to see Tokiya, endured that kind of state anymore.

“Oi, Nanami!” Syo stretched his hand out to hold Nanami back but it was to no avail. Instead, she snatched her hand away from the much stronger boy out of determination before abruptly interrupted their conversation.

“Who do you think you are, you hag!? You claim that he is not competent enough when you yourself are not even a celebrity and I bet if you do, you will gain more haters than fans, Yamada-san!”

“Nanami-san?” Tokiya’s blue eyes widened too big. Just how the hell this Nanami Haruka could sneak into his house?

“Nanami?” Otoya, Syo and Masato dropped their jaws and if this is a cartoon series, their eyeballs migh just drop to the floor out of shock.

“Way to go, Little Lamb/Haru-chan..” Ren and Natsuki whispering their cheers.

 “Who the heck are you!? Hayato, by chance, do you...” Megumi’s brown eyes widened in horror as her so-called intelligent head started to imagine any kind of possible and secret relationship  between Tokiya and this nosy girl.

“No, I am not his girlfriend, let alone his wife or any kind of disgraceful relationship because he knows that it is against the rule as an idol. He will do anything for the sake of his career because he loves singing more than anything! You, as his mother should know that more than anyone!”

“Nanami-san...”

“What the hell are you talking about, you bitch? I am not his mother so you better shut your frigging mouth if...”

“I am sorry but I am afraid I cannot shut my frigging mouth that easy,” for someone who is petite, Haruka looked much adorable when she tried to match Megumi’s 1.68 metres height as a sign that she wanted to intimidate the woman. “Especially when you have treated him like a stray cat, Yamada-san. Even you do hate your ex-husband so much, that still cannot be a good reason for you to abandon your son. He is YOUR SON! How could you disregard YOUR SON like that!?”

“She said ‘your son’ thrice,” Cecil giggled with Otoya out of amazement.

“Get your ass out of here, you retard! I told you, he’s not my son!” Megumi’s gorgeous face started to turn ugly and funny as she was dumbfounded that there are still another soul in this world who knows about her biological relationship with Tokiya. 

“No, I won’t because I will brainwash that nasty brain of yours until you feel so guilty that you will atone for your sin. I will ask you a question, Yamada-san. Let’s say someday..” Haruka tried to hold her tears as she recalled Tokiya’s death. Her chest felt tight as her mind served the image of how Tokiya was beaten countlessly until he flatlined on top of her. “Let’s say, someday, your son, Ichinose Tokiya is dead from a car accident. He is dead but... your relationship with him is still cold. Do you ever regret because you are too stupid for abandoning him since he was 12?”

“Nanami- san, calm down..”

“If I were you, I might suffer from a mental shock because at that time, it will be too late for me to regret and apologize to him.”

Megumi looked speechless but her next answer almost made the other STARISH members snapped and hit her.

“Rather than being regretful, I simply wish him dead instead. He’s the curse in my life.”

“What the...” Otoya resisted himself from swearing even he could feel the chagrin that suddenly crawled into his veins.

“The.. f***,” this time, Syo cursed without a fail since Natsuki was too busy cooling himself down.

“She wishes his death yet she still calls herself a mother?” Masato looked rather emotional when it comes to parenting issue, suitable with his nickname, ‘ _Okachan_ of STARISH’.

“She should just let Hijirikawa teaches her how to be a loving mother instead,” Ren’s cheeky remark sent Masato punching his stomach.

While the son who Megumi wished for his death, Tokiya just curved in a bitter smile even it was obvious to everyone that he was too crestfallen. His blue orbs just stared blankly at the floor, much to Haruka’s grief. 

Please, Ichinose-san.. Don’t make that face. I am barely holding myself from punching your mother, you know?

“Is that so?” Haruka bit her lips as her anger burned inside her. “You really don’t care?”

“No. I have my beloved son, Zen afterall.”

“While Ichinose-san has me and his friends,” Haruka stepped in front of Tokiya, indirectly warned Megumi that she would be the dead one instead. “He has another six friends that treasure him more than you. So, next time, if you pick a fight with him again, I will not hesitate to tell your husband about you and Ichinose-san. Just try me.”

While Megumi was this close to slap Haruka, Tokiya felt the urge to hug the girl.

Tokiya (referring to the future him), what did you do to get yourself a wonderful girl like her? His heart thumped in question while his eyes stared at her gratefully.    

“Did you guys see how Tokiya is looking at Nanami? He looks...”

“Maybe he is starting to fall in love with her.” Masato cut Otoya’s words short.

“Y..yes..”

“That reminds me with how back then, the late Tokiya used to stare at Haruka whenever he had a chance, ” Cecil remarked.

“Eh? Tokiya used to do something cheesy like that?” Otoya and Syo asked, almost in unison.

“Come on, guys.. Regardless how aloof he could be, Tokiya is still a man. Naturally, he is the same like us,” Cecil deadpanned.   

“You bitch! Are you threatening me right now? Me, the wife of Yamada Seichiro?” Megumi emphasized her so-called prestigous relationship with the said president but it just made Haruka chuckling sarcastically.

“I am not threatening you but I am knocking some sense into you. I don’t care who the hell is your husband because I am sorry. Your personality is too disgusting.”

“Woahh! Good job, Little Lamb!”

“Oi, Nanami! Where the hell do you learn to talk like that?” unlike Ren, Syo could not contain his surprise and worry over Haruka’s sudden bluntness before flinching at his friends’ ‘probably she learnt from you’ faces.

To everyone’s surprise, Megumi who just acted superior a few minutes ago quickly left the apartment. Maybe she was too surprised that an adorable girl like Haruka could be this foul-mouthed.

After she left, both Tokiya and Haruka just stared at the floor with mixed feelings. There were so many things that they wanted to say to each other but...

They just could not start it.

“Come on, Ikki. Try to guess what Icchi feels right now,” Ren elbowed Otoya. Honestly he felt bored to hide like this so he initiated any random game that he could think of.

“Eh? Well... I guess he finally opened up to Nanami,” Otoya scratched his head, feeling uncertain about his answer but he tried it anyway.

“Yes, he is,” Masato approved.

“Wait! Why are you the one who approved my answer?”

“Because I can guess what Ichinose feels.”

“What’s with the sudden Hijirikawa complex, Otoya?” Syo rolled his eyes.

 “ _Minna-san_ , look at that. Tokiya-kun is saying something..” Natsuki pointed out the next drama in front of them.

And all eyes with different colors focused to a certain blue head and a girl.

“Thanks.. for just now,” Tokiya’s usual calm voice sounded huskier as his cold was still there.

But Haruka just shook her head before finally meeting his eyes. “No need for that. In fact, I am the one who shoud say sorry for trespassing on your place. I know I was so rude but I can’t help it. Last night, you were..”

“You saved me, right?” a warm smile that he never showed to her before was enough to make her blushed madly. Not to mention, she missed that kind of smile. It gives her this unexplainable feeling in her heart and only Tokiya could bring it. “I remember I heard your voice screaming my name before I passed out last night.”

“Well, I...”

“You are the one who texted my manager about me being sick.”

“Well, yes. I am sorry but I feel the obligation to text him. He totally worried about you and I am afraid if I do nothing, it will affect your schedule as Hayato.”

“I guess I don’t have to ask you how do you know my password, right?”

Ahhh, bad Haruka! She bit her lips nervously. Based on his voice and face expression, Haruka could guess that Tokiya did not get mad at her but the feeling of guilty for invading his privacy just appeared inside of her.

“I am sorry. And I.. I am sorry for being rude to your mother. I just could not control my anger.”

“It’s okay. I’ve learned that... Tokiya.. the one who sacrificed his life for you sure is a lucky guy. I can tell that you love him so much...”

“I love you.”

Tokiya’s blue orbs quickly met her golden eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“I love you, Ichinose-san,” she stared deeply into his eyes even her face now matched Otoya’s hair color. She did not know what possessed her to be that blunt but she really wanted him to know something.

She wanted him to know how much she loves and treasures him.

“You know what? My late husband used to tell me that I am that someone who he could’t help but particularly had his eyes on. When I was around, he had this confidence that he can surpass no matter how hard his problems were. He really wanted to make me his. He didn’t want to lose me to somebody else but at the same time, he felt that he didn’t deserve me so he ended up prioritizing my happiness over his happiness. And to make me smile, he would do anything for me even though it meant giving up on me,” her heart was now fulfilled with sorrow and nostalgia when she recalled how her husband used to do the same thing to her like right now. “And that’s what I feel about you, Ichinose-san.”

No quick responses from him and she knew why. Knowing Tokiya who prioritizes his career over anything, she did not hope for a positive reply anyway.

“Well, I didn’t say I would reject you but...” he let out a heavy sigh. “There are so many things going on right now, Nanami-san. I..”

“It’s okay, Ichinose-san,” she knew he just tried to be kind. “I know what are you implying. You rejected me because idols are forbidden to date. I totally understand that.”

Tokiya just stared deep through the floor. There was a strong sense of guilt and happiness because of the confession and STARISH members knew it.

“Is he seriously going to reject her?” Syo asked as he felt sorry for Haruka.

“Yes,” Masato replied. “But only at the beginning.”

“I am sorry,” the husky voice of Tokiya sounded full of guilt but surprisingly enough, it did not make the rosette feel massively dejected because..

As long as Tokiya is happy with whatever decision he made, Haruka would feel the same for him. In fact, she could say that this is a small punishment for her being too oblivious to Tokiya’s feeling to her before.

“It’s okay. I totally understand your circumstance, Ichinose-san.”

He is alone in his world and when you do not have anyone to rely on, you will end up doing whatever it takes so that you can achieve your dream. As for Tokiya’s case, to be an idol, he must not fall in love with anyone.

Speaking of him being alone....

“But.. just one request from me, Ichinose-san.”

“Hm?”

“Let me be your family.”

“Eh?”

“I want to be someone who you will rely on whenever you have concern. I want you to feel just how wonderful a family can be when they truly care about you.. To be honest, instead of a curse, you are a blessing for me,” her sincere and soft confession just evoked an unspeakable feeling going through his spine straight to his heart when the sweet voice of her reached his ears.

It was initially creepy when a girl, who appeared out of nowhere, talking crap about their marriage in future. Not to mention that she behaved like a stalker; bluntly telling him that she knows everything about his personal life.

But now.. he learned that all the so-called stalker wanted is his happiness. She even saw him as the blessing in her life and no words could not describe how glad he was.

And that was when he realized, why Nanami Haruka is so priceless to the future him.

“I think you did say to me that you are my family, right? Remember? the night when it was drizzling and you comforted me..” again, he curved in a warm smile that suggested a good answer. “I am new to all of this but.. from now on, I guess that we can act like a family to each other..”

As she heard his answer, a loving smile crept over her pink lips, which made her looked so endearing in his eyes. “Thank you, Ichinose-san. I will try my best.”

How beautiful, his hear whispered in admiration.

 “Well, enough with the drama already! My legs are going to get cramped if I stay hiding like this!” Ren suddenly shouted before abruptly leaving their hiding spot, sending all of them in the house in shock.

“What... are you guys...” Tokiya was in utter bewilderment as his friends started to get out from their hiding spot with guilty smiles on their faces except Ren. “Doing here?”

“Tokiya, oha-yahho! Hope you are doing fine,” Otoya greeted his roommate light-heartedly before leaving quickly, almost stumbling over Natsuki.

“Get well soon, Ichinose!” Masato remarked.

“Tokiya-kun, next time, if you come to school, I will give you my special home-made food...”

“Not even in your birthday, you mad monster! Do you want him to die instead?” Syo’s loud yell resonated through the whole corridor, followed by ‘Ehh? Why not?’ line from Natsuki.

“Just ignore us.. You guys can continue with your family relationship stuff or whatever you call it,” Cecil winked at Haruka before becoming the last person to leave the house.

They both were completely speechless until..

“Tell me, Nanami-san..”

“Y..yes?”

“Since when did those dorks hide here?”

 “Since...before your president came here..”

“Ehhh??”

* * *

 

 **The** following week greeted Tokiya with a string of surprises, both from Haruka and his friends.

Oh.. special mentioned; a surprise from himself. 

The first one is a bento.

“To..Tokiya-kun, I made you a bento!”

 “What is this?” he grabbed the Tupperware with a questioning look, sending her chuckled out of amusement.

Not to mention, the way he stared so intently at the lunch box was like a child who just got his birthday gift for the first time.

“Ichinose-san, you are supposed to ask first before gaining yourself my answer,” her remark immediately made him agreeing with her before facepalming.

“No, you are not silly, Ichinose-san. It’s quite cute actually,” when she called him cute, she actually resisted the urge to poke his cheek, just like how she teased her husband.

“I am not cute,” he averted his gaze to somewhere else, which made him look much cuter for Haruka.

A serene smile coming from him, just for her. “Thank you, Nanami-san. I will eat well.”

“Then, I will go back to my class first. See you later.”

“Er.. Nanami-san!”

“Y..yes?” she raised an eyebrow as she could guess that Tokiya had something to tell her.

“Actually.. I.. you see..”

“What’s wrong Ichinose-san?”

Is it me or he is nervous right now?

“No..nothing.. see you later,” he abruptly left her. He walked so fast, unlike his typical and previously charismatic image.

Eh?  

* * *

 

 **“Er**... Nanami-san!”

“Y..yes?”

“Oi,” Tokiya exclaimed in annoyance.

“Actually..I.. you see..”

“What’s wrong Ichinose-san?” a fake and disgustingly high-pitched voice hit his ears, almost making the blue head flipped the cafetaria table. Just like that, Haruka’s pretty voice turned into a voice that deserved a slap, thanks to somebody’s terrible impersonation.

“Cut it out, you guys,” Tokiya made his voice turned stern but instead of making the two boys flinched like before, it just made them more annoying.

“No.. nothing.. see you later.”

“And then, the hopeless and helpless male lead, Tokiya left the confused female lead, Nanami.. just like that,” the previously disgusting voice which is owned by a red head suddenly turned deep, playing the narrator role.

“I will give it to her later so please stop making fun of me already!” Tokiya glared at Otoya and Syo who just had fun re-enacting the bento scene while being sarcastic. “And more importantly, did you just stalk us? What a pair of nosy parkers!”

“You are one to talk,” Syo chuckled, obviously feeling annoyed. “We didn’t spend our precious last night to encourage and teach a certain blue head how to give a family bracelet properly to a girl only to find out that the blue head turned stupidly nervous and failed to give it to her.”    

“You guys don’t have to be so mean, you know,” Tokiya replied. “Just so you know, I am terrible when it comes to situation like that.”

“He’s right, Syo. That was partially our fault too. We should let Tokiya read a ‘how to give a present to the girl who is madly in love with you’ book instead of asking him to be spontaneous,” Otoya’s so-called sympathetic voice however just mocked Tokiya more.

“Otoya, you...” as Tokiya opened the lid of his bento, the three of them could not help but being mesmerized by Haruka’s caprese pasta salad with grilled chicken.

“You are so lucky, Tokiya! This bento made me missing Nozomi’s cooking already!” Otoya remarked.

“I think the future me is luckier though.. He can eat this everyday,” Tokiya stated while spooning a slice of chicken.

“Huh? Didn’t Nanami tell you that she is going to make you a bento everyday?” Syo asked.

“What?”

Otoya suddenly shoved the spoon into his mouth.

 _“Itadakimasu!”_ the red head shouted in jolly, teasing his roommate who now looked slightly annoyed.

“Otoya, what are you...” he paused when he was chewing, caused Otoya to stop teasing and stared at him. “It’s... delicious..”

“I know, right? Nanami’s bento is so delicious,” Syo acknowledged.

When Tokiya was about to take another bite, he could feel someone came out of nowhere and stole the food on his spoon.

It was Aijima Cecil!

“I heard it is Haruka’s home-made cooking so I quickly came here. As expected, her cooking skill is so amazing!”

There is an awkward silence and surprisingly enough, every single human being in that cafeteria stared at Cecil even though they did not have any idea what the heck was going on until...

A punch flew, smack-dab across Cecil’s face, sending others gasped in horror.

“Cecil!” Otoya’s scream resonated through the whole cafeteria.

* * *

 

 **“Ichinose** Tokiya,” Hyuga’s stern look was not enough for the blue head to feel intimidated. Instead, his poker face was absolutely annoying for anybody who knew the fact that he just commited a ‘small crime’.

“Yes?”

“I am glad that you are getting sociable because that trait is good for your career as an idol but...” he glancet at the Agnapolis prince beside Tokiya who winced in pain while touching his bruised eyes. “Punching your friend just because of  a bento is not being sociable, Ichinose. It’s more like you just gained yourself an enemy.”

“I don’t want to make friends with someone rude like him so enemy sounds the best for him.”

“What?” Hyuga looked confused. He never expected that the aloof Tokiya had this dark side in him. “Ichinose, what are you on about? I wonder about this for a while but have you known Aijima before he got transferred to this school?”

“No.”

“Then why do you seem like you really hate him? Not to mention that I saw you almost flipping your table the moment I introduced him to the class.”

“No real reasons,” Tokiya glared at Cecil who turned more annoyed. “I never punched anyone in my whole life before but this guy.. everytime I see his face, he gives me this eccentric aura which makes me want to punch him so bad..”

“Hey, calling me an enemy when I tried so hard to be close with you, along with the fact that we both are from the same team are also quite rude, you know,” Cecil suddenly ignored his pain and focusing on glaring at Tokiya.  “Not to mention you always avoided me when we were coincidentally alone... And now you said that you have no real reasons but you just feel like to punch me!?”

“You want to know why? Because you are a creep. Knowing that the cat who always licked my face all the time is a one heck of a guy...”

“Said someone who could flirt with 15 guys and won the bet. Just accept the fact that you are not that innocent, Tokiya. The fact that you can even turned those straight guys into a bunch of gays just...ewww, it is downright disgusting!”

“Shut up!” Tokiya’s usual gentle voice suddenly turned louder and rougher (just imagine Rin from Free! shouted in rage) , enough to make Hyuga and the others in corridor flinched out of amazement and horror when in fact, the teacher’s room was tightly shut.

“Oi, guys...” a few nerves finally throbbed on Hyuga’s head, indicating that if those idiots did not stop bickering, he would explode and made them guilty for what they have done. “Do you guys even aware where the heck are you guys now?”

“Now I know that this flawless Tokiya can become a moron when it comes to cats... You even..”

“I said, shut up!” as Tokiya threw Hyuga’s insanely thick text book to Cecil’s forehead, the Prince of Fighting movie lead star finally reached his last straw.

“Detention!!!”

“Ehhh!!??”

* * *

 

 **The** second surprise would be that he was forced to be in detention with someone who he thought that he would never get along with once he found out that the weirdo is the cat that he used to hug on his bed.

For certain reasons, their detention which was supposed to last for four hours was extended until late at night.

“What the hell are you guys doing? We are supposed to have a practice at eight,” was the respond from Syo who was totally annoyed with the absence of those two dorks after they finally came back at dorm.

“Our detention was extended because of someone..”

“That’s because of you, stupid!” Tokiya shouted angrily before Cecil could complete his words.

The third one, after making friends with STARISH members, Tokiya got more expressive before he knew it. He used to avoid conflicts especially the petty one. He was a guy who they described as the level-headed one but now, not anymore. He could be childish as he grew closer with them. For example, nowadays, fighting with Otoya about who should take a shower first after their tiring practice has also became sorts of routine for him.

And the forth one would be about his singing.

 “Nanami-san, can I borrow one of your songs? I mean.. any song that you composed for your husband,” he asked Haruka when they bumped into each other.

“Eh? Sure but for what?”

“I have a make-up test for my singing today so I thought that it will be nice if I sing your song. For some reasons, it cheers me up.. Maybe because it comes from my family,” his honest remark sent her to blush mad.  

“Here.. ” her golden orbs met his blue eyes as she took out a music sheet from her file. “Good luck, Ichinose-san!”

“Thank you. I will try my best to sing your song.”

Ahhh, he is going to sing my song againn!! Haruka was this close to scream to the world about how happy she was.

“And.. one more thing...”

“Eh?” Haruka was bewildered as Tokiya took out a small pink box from his pocket.

“I.. you see..” he tried to restrain his nervousness as he took out a cute bracelet from the box before putting it around her small wrist. “Just a small gift for being my family.”

“Ehhh??”

Oh my... if we are not in school right now, I will kiss him for sure, while coaxing herself to be relaxed about the unexpected gift, her golden orbs just stared at the bracelet delightedly.

“Thank you, Ichi...eh?”

Tokiya was no longer there, leaving her alone and again in the middle of the corridor.

So fast..Where did he disappear?

* * *

 

 ** _kono_** _mama hora ugokazu ni  
kuchibiru dake de tashikamete  
watashi no me ni utsuru no wa  
kimi shika yurusarenai  
  
yume no saki de saku hana yo　dou ka futari o michibiite  
ieru koto wa tada hitotsu　“hanasanai zettai”  
subete wa kono ai no tame ni ikiyou_  
_sono tame ni umarete kitanda…_

As he inhaled and exhaled nervously, preparing his mental for the worse, he could hear a round of applause from his classmates.

“ _Sugoi,_ Ichinose! Full marks for you!” Hyuga who used to criticize his singing for lacking a heart now could not help but being mesmerized by Tokiya’s improvement.

“Thank you,” Tokiya smiled as he received the compliment. Apparently, ‘Believe My Voice’ is the best song for him to portray his skills.  

Thank you, Nanami-san. It’s all because of you...

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 14! Thank you for the Kudos, minnasan!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Haruka was happy to get closer with Tokiya, she never expected that her worst nightmare appeared again..

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA**

 

**The** close relationship between Tokiya and Haruka was no longer a secret Saotome academy. The fact that one of the best students who had a top-notch singing and a promising composer always hung out together said it all. Recently, every single person in the academy could not help but feeling astounded with the fact that Haruka eventually could be chummy with Tokiya after the said guy kept giving her the cold shoulder before. They even could see Tokiya smiling so bright because of the composer.

While Haruka.. words could not describe how much she felt satisfied and over the moon with her life now. No matter how intense the hatred she had to face every single day for being the only girl who Ichinose Tokiya has acknowledged, no matter how much death glares and warnings she had to run into from the lunatic trio from her class (Yuna, Mizuki and Naomi), she had this cheesy feeling which convinced her that as long as Tokiya is there beside her, she could surpass everything that stood in her way. 

Her focus was only to be a good family for Tokiya, as she promised him.

* * *

 

**“The** top student for this batch is...” Syo loyally gave some dramatic drum effects to Hyuga by knocking his against the table countlessly.“Ichinose Tokiya! Congratulations!”

Tokiya’s eyes widened a bit. He did not expect to get an A, let alone full marks for all subjects of the recent exam. Considering he was too busy with his job, passing out several times during recordings, sleeping on his desk when he only read his notes for five minutes, he did not expect that he would pass with flying colors.

While in A Class....

_‘Nanami, our Tokiya got the first rank in our batch.’_

_Yokatta!_ Haruka smiled upon reading the text from Syo while her head planned something for the blue head.

Thus, in the evening, Tokiya did not expect to bump into Haruka by the lake, along with her wide grin.

How beautiful, despite Haruka’s suspicious expression, Tokiya could not help but admiring her beauty which strangely and lately charmed him. His eyes glanced at the pink bracelet that he gave to her before spontaneously and internally praising how the jewellery suited her small wrist perfectly.

What’s wrong with my eyes lately? Why does she always look so beautiful every time I see her?  

“Nanami-san, you look overly over the moon. Care to share with me?” He blurted out, considering that was the most sensible response he could give.

“How about you? Care to share with me?”

“About what?” He raised an eyebrow, obviously clueless. Sometimes, he did feel guilty because while this cute girl could read him like an open book, he always had no ideas about what the heck was she thinking.

If only he could learn more about this girl... He did feel interested in her, though.

“About how suddenly you disappeared after giving me this,” Haruka raised her wrist at his eyel level. “Just so you know, this bracelet is so beautiful so it makes sense for me to thank you. Not to mention it comes from you but you just left me like that,” she pouted in dissatisfaction.

“I was late for Hyuga sensei’s class,” He answered it quickly. Not in seven hells he would admit that the reason why he disappeared because he was about to explode because of embarrassment.

“I see..” She grinned again out of the blue before remarking, “By the way, I just heard from someone that there is something good happened to you today.”

“Are you talking about the exam?” apparently, the blue head could only come up with the exam-related answer because that was the only thing that brightened up his day.

“Yes!”

“Then?”

“So?” the rosette widened her golden eyes, expecting Tokiya to get her right away.

“What so?”

“You passed it with flying colors, right?”

“Yes,” Tokiya answered flatly, resembling a robot.

Feeling frustrated with the lackadaisical Tokiya, Haruka cupped his face, sending the guy shocked.

“Nanami-san, what are you doing?” the sudden contact from the girl managed to make him nervous. She always surprised him with her boldness, considering she was originally shy and timid. 

“Ichinose-san, when your luck was in... I mean no matter how small-bore it is, you should share it with your family.”

“You don’t mind?” Tokiya asked, reluctantly. “You don’t think that I am a pain in the neck?”

“Of course I don’t, honey,” she blurted out the word ‘honey’ out of her habit when she was alone with her husband, making Tokiya blushed and the worst thing was, she did not realize it. “Because I am your family. I want to know everything about you.”

“But it’s just an exam result. It’s not that important.. In fact, I think it will sound more like a hard luck story,” Tokiya tried to reason out but Haruka knew he just quoted it from his ignorant mother. Megumi made him believed that it was pointless to let others knew how much he was happy with his exam result. Instead, he was shooed and ordered to study more and got full marks.

“It’s still important to me,” her sweet voice and genuine eyes while staring straight at him melted his heart. “And it’s not a hard luck story, Ichinose-san. Don’t think yourself as that pathetic. You don’t have to try to gain sympathy or attention from your family because a family is supposed to give you those from the start and that’s what I give you now. I am here so that you will not feel alone anymore.”

Tokiya bit his lips uncertainly even deep inside in his heart, he was so delighted with what Haruka had done to him.

“Well, if you say so, then I will give it a shot,” his blue orbs met her eyes, struggling to focus on her. “Nanami-san...”

“Yes.”

“I got the first rank. I guess that I just lucked out because during the exam, I had a fever and you know, it was so hard to focus on answering those papers when your head was so dizzy, your nose was stuffed up, not to mention that you had a tight schedule.. Frankly speaking, I still cannot believe that...” 

“It’s not surprising at all, Ichinose-san. No matter how tough your situation is, I know you can pull it off. You deserved that when you worked so hard to achieve your dream,” the delicate hand stroked his hair down to his cheek. “Congratulations, honey.”

It was an absolute silence the moment Haruka finally realized that she was addressed Tokiya way too tender.

“I.. I mean..Congratulations, Ichinose san.. Sorry for addressing you...”

“What about you? How do you feel today?” Tokiya quickly interrupted since he did not want her to feel guilty for calling him ‘honey’ when in fact...

Before he knew it, he liked it when she was affectionate with him.

“I feel happy to see you smiling a lot these days, Ichinose san. The feeling is the same when I confessed to my husband that I love him, when we had our wedding ceremony and when we were... no, I cannot choose because every seconds that I spent with him is the best moment ever.”

“Do you still miss him?”

“So much,” she smiled. Seemingly deep in thought, she kept caressing him. “But now, he is right in front of me, smiling because of his exam result and I am so happy for him.”

“Na..Nanami san.”

“Yes?”

“Did you always get bold like this with him? I mean... your hand..”

Apparently, Haruka did not even realize that her hand kept touching him and when she did, her hand already caressed his chest. At this rate, she would not be surprised if Tokiya considered to sue her for sexual harrassment when initially, she claimed that she just wanted to be his family without involving her romantic feeling towards him.

Yet, so far, it seems inconceivable for her to suppress her feeling when he was around.  

 “I am sorry, Ichinose-san!” she suddenly stood up and bowed 135 degrees, sending him jumped a bit. “I am sorry if what I did making you felt sexually harrassed! Please forgive me for my shamelessness!”

“It’s.. okay,” he could not help but admiring her cuteness and randomness. “Considering that you miss your husband so much, I guess, it can’t be helped.”

Sexually harrassed? Not at all. He just felt awkward because apparently, they were just friends or family.

“But you did feel uncomfortable, right? I can see that your body is so stiff.”

This girl.. I really can’t hide anything from her.

“Well, maybe because you suddenly become my ‘family’ yet I don’t know anything about you... so somehow, it makes me feeling bad and weird.”

“Eh?”

“I don’t mind if you tell me about you, though.. I don’t even know about your family members.”

Okay, how come she did not even think about it?

“Well, if you say so... It’s my pleasure to tell you about me.”

* * *

 

**“Where** are you heading to after this, Ichinose-san?” Haruka asked as she finished telling him about herself.

Tokiya was about to answer her when she swiftly guessed, “Perhaps, are you going to visit your father’s grave?”

Before Tokiya could even show her a ‘how do you know?’ face, she quickly added, “Because it really sounded like you to tell your late father about your exam result. My late husband said, it is kind of a ritual for him to let his father knows everything about him.”

“Yeah, you are right. And you know what? With you, I don’t even need to talk much because you always know what am I up to,” he remarked playfully, sending the rosette chuckled out of  slight embarrassment.

“I am sorry.”

“It’s okay. Then, how about you? Where are you going after this?”

“Probably straight to my room. I don’t have any plan anyway..”

“Do you want to join me instead?”

“Can I!?” she suddenly jumped from the bench which she was sitting and stared at Tokiya happily. “Do you mean.. I can join you visiting _otousan_... I mean... your late father?”

“Yes,” her dramatic reaction whenever he said something ‘exciting or unexpected’ for her was something that Tokiya grew accustomed to nowadays.

“It’s been a while since I visited his grave. I miss him already!”

Her spontaneous remark sending the blue head next to her curved a smile.

_Otousan_ , I am going to introduce you with Nanami Haruka, the girl who changed my life.

* * *

 

**“ _Otousan_..** I am here with my friend, Nanami Haruka. I asked her to see you.”

“ _Douzo yoroshiku, otou.._ I mean _ojisan_ ,” she bowed her head as a sign of respect.

When Tokiya was staring intently at the grave while forming a bitter smile, it really reminded Haruka with the future him since she always accompanied him to be here.

“ _Otousan.._ I am sorry for rarely visiting you nowadays. I had a pile of Hayato works and I have practices for our upcoming  debut. Yes, it is tough and I was sick for a few times but..” his bright eyes met Haruka’s. “I met a bunch of awesome friends who strive together with me. A bunch of friends who I had never thought that I will have fun with because..you know me, right, _otousan?_ I am terrible when it comes to make friends. And just so you know _,_ Nanami-san here is the composer for our debut song. Her song is so awesome and I can’t help but getting excited for our debut as STARISH. My contract as Hayato will expire soon so please, _otousan_... please pray for me.. Please watch our performance.”

It was a pregnant silence until...

“Please, _ojisan!_ Please watch your son’s performance!” a cute voice suddenly sounded enthusiatic, much to Tokiya’s shock.

“Nanami san?”

“Ichinose-san, can I talk with your father?”

“Sure,” with his still perplexed look, Tokiya moved along, giving her a space.

“Just so you know, I used to talk to him a lot when I came here with my husband,” her confession just made Tokiya’s heart thumped faster. “ _Konbanwa, ojisan_. I am Nanami Haruka, your son’s friend and the composer for his debut song. I am sorry for shamelessly following your son here but I really want to tell you something.”

Tokiya gave her a questioning look but she just smiled, giving him ‘just wait and see’ look.

“Your son is so amazing,” Haruka blurted out cheerfully, making Tokiya looked more perplexed. “I bet he is the son that every single mother in Japan wishes. He is not only charming and smart but he is also hardworking and very goal-oriented. Considering way he admires you, I can tell that he resembles you so much. And I can tell that you are also a very good father for him.”   

“Guess what? In our academy, your son was voted as The Sexiest Prince, together with his classmate. I mean.. ah, _ojisan,_ no, no. Please don’t misunderstand.. He is not sexy in that kind of way. Compared to Jinguji-san who always lost his shirt buttons and very flirtatious, your son always wears his uniform properly and doesn’t talk much with girls. Just look at him here right now. This is the way he wears his uniform everyday.”

“Nanami-san, to be honest, just what are you trying to tell my father?”

But Haruka ignored it. Instead, she kept talking as if Ichinose Akira was actually right in front of her, all smiling at her.

“He is sexy because he is hardworking, talented and inspirational. For me, his singing is the one that inspired me to be a composer. Originally, I want to be a composer because I want to create a beautiful music like Hayato. I want Hayato to sing my song someday. But after I know more about your son, I must say that I grow to.. I grow to like him more than just a fan to a celebrity.”

For nth time, this Nanami Haruka made his heart beat faster with her sincerity and devotion.

But what happened next was something that almost made him pulling her into his embrace if it was not because their merely and so-called family relationship.

“To tell you the truth, _ojisan_ , I.. I love your son. I love him so much but since love is forbidden among idols so I promised him to be his family instead. I don’t want him to feel lonely anymore. I just want him to smile everyday. I want him to achieve his dream without the need to suffer anymore because to be honest..”

Haruka’s loving face expression suddenly turned stern as she glared at Tokiya, sending the idol flinched.

“What’s with the glare?”

Again, he was ignored. Instead, she pointed out her index finger, barely touched his pointed nose.

“This charming son of yours leads a very bad lifestyle. Despite his young age, he works too much like a robot. He skips his meals often, he suffers sleep deprivation, he passed out several times but he still works too much. As his friends, we tried to make him enjoying his life more but instead of getting less workaholic, he works harder while enjoying his life with us so to put it simply, we just made him more tired. So, please, _ojisan!_ By all means, please stop your beloved son from living like a robot. Anything can do like.. maybe you can show up in his dream and be a ghost..”

“Nanami-san!” Tokiya could not resist himself from screaming because of the ridicule that she just blurted out, out of nowhere.

_Otousan,_ to be honest, I still can’t understand this girl. The way her mind works is so complicated. Are girls generally like this?

* * *

 

**“Are** you... perhaps, Hayato..” the taxi driver asked as they arrived in front of Saotome Academy front gate.

“No, I am not. I am his twin brother.”

Haruka’s jaw dropped. Instead of answering the taxi driver’s question with his notorious glower, Tokiya even smiled chummily at the said guy, standing in front of the driver’s side.

I guess that he starts to accept Hayato as the part of himself.

Out of the blue, her phone rang before showing ‘Tomo-chan’ name on the screen.

_“Moshi-moshi.”_

“Haruka! Where are you? Are you already in our room? I am so bored! I am supposed to attend a Piyo-chan fan meeting but Shinomiya-kun did not show up yet.”

“Eh? How long have you been there?” Haruka could hear noises and Piyo-chan’s theme song mixed in the background.

 “About 40 minutes?”

“For real? Maybe he is lost? Syo-kun used to tell me that Shinomiya-san easily gets lost.”

“Ehh? He has no sense of direction like you?”

“Tomo-chan, that’s mean!”

While Haruka was busy entertaining the bored Tomochika, she could spot an accelerated black car, coming from out of nowhere.

It should not be a problem for the driver of the said car to dash that fast but..

Wait... Why is he dashing towards..

“Ichinose-san!” as the thought of a black car who used to ruin her marriage before hit her, she threw herself towards Tokiya, attempting to save him.

A few seconds passed and with Tokiya beneath her, she could see the mysterious car which almost hit them quickly left the scene but her concern only grew to one person.

A guy that she never afforded to lose again.

“Ichinose-san, are you.. are you okay?” with her insanely trembling voice, she slowly moved from him.

“I am okay,” Tokiya struggled to calm himself down but the sight of Haruka staring at his head confused him.

That was when he felt a pain from the back of his head, followed by blood flowing endlessly.

“Are you guys alright? Oh my God, son, you’re bleeding!” the taxi driver exclaimed in shock as he approached the couple.

And again, Haruka could feel that the pain and trauma that she used to move on from so hard maliciously haunted her.

Not to mention that her instinct strongly told her that the driver of the cryptic car intended to kill Tokiya.

* * *

 

**“Ichinose** Tokiya! Eh, what gives?” a nurse who called out the blue head’s name was surprised to see a cute and entertaining scene which most probably never happened in the clinic.

 It was the sight where the called patient, Ichinose Tokiya, who unlike other typical patient who will be comforted or pampered by whoever that brings him there, was the one who did those two verbs instead to a sobbing girl named Nanami Haruka.

“Nanami-san, please don’t cry anymore. I am okay,” while stopping blood from flowing with the rosette’s handkerchief, Tokiya’s other hand stroked her shoulder awkwardly, attempting to comfort her.

“I am sorry... I can’t help it,” Haruka covered her tears-stained face with her delicate hands.

People around them started to gossip about them.

“What a cute couple!”

“What’s with his girlfriend? Crying like a spoiled brat!”

“Maybe she just loves her boyfriend too much. So lucky.”

“I think the one who is lucky is the wimp. She is going out with Hayato’s twin brother.”

 Nobody in the clinic knew what caused the composer to have hard time to stop crying. Nobody in the clinic would never guess that the young and innocent-looking girl used to be the witness of her husband’s tragic death. Nobody could guess that this currently shivering girl suffered from a severe trauma before.

“Ichinose Tokiya!” the nurse called out again and this time, she managed to gain attention from the said blue head.

“Coming,” Tokiya raised from his seat. “Nanami-san, I am going to see the doctor. Don’t worry too much, okay?”

A few minutes after Tokiya left her, the other STARISH members and Tomochika arrived, gaining themselves the spotlight due to their good looks.

“Haruka, are you okay? Where is Ichinose-san?” Tomochika swiftly hugged Haruka.

“I am okay. He is in the doctor’s room,” she murmured.

“Is he okay? How’s the bleeding?” Otoya asked.

“Luckily it doesn’t flow that much. He is still fully conscious.”

“What’s exactly happened, Nanami? Do you know who is the driver?” Masato asked,impatiently.

“Yeah. Why the hell did he want to hit Tokiya?” Syo demanded.

Haruka lifted her head up, looking at each of her worried friends with her still watery eyes.

“ _Minnasan.._ the guy intended to kill Tokiya-kun.”

They gasped in shock.

“This is just my instinct but what if... this guy is also the one who killed him before?”

They could feel the goosebumps just from listening to her because there was a possibility that the mysterious guy held a revenge against Tokiya since a long time ago.

* * *

 

**As** the doctor’s room’s door was open, Ren was ready with his spontaneous plan, right after he saw how scared Haruka was with the possibility that Tokiya would be in a hot water again.

“Guys, please follow me for a while,” Ren dragged Syo and Otoya who he could reach conveniently.

“Eh? What the heck?” Syo tried to resist but it was impossible to overcome the ex-playboy’s strength.

“Nanami is still sad, Ren. We can’t just leave her here,” Otoya also tried to protest.

“That’s why you guys have to follow me. Come on, guys! We will be right back,” thank God Tokiya took a while to come out so Ren’s plan would not be seen through.

“That guy,” Tomochika sighed heavily before stroking Haruka’s shoulder. “We’ll be back, okay? Everything will be fine.”

Haruka just nodded weakly.

As soon as they left Haruka, Ren asked them to hide behind a nearby wall.

“Just what are you planning to do, Jinguji?” Masato asked in annoyance.

“Little Lamb is sad,” Ren answered nonchalantly without being aware that he just acted nonsensical.

“We know!” all of them shouted in unison and out of anger.

“That’s why we should be with her instead of standing here!” Cecil shouted impatiently.

“And that’s why we asked you, what the heck are you planning, Jinguji?” Masato asked again but with the ‘please give us a reasonable excuse or you will never see the sunset again, Jinguji Ren!’ aura.

“Little Lamb is sad,” Ren quickly added before Syo could clobber him. “And I think Icchi can take care of her. All she needs right now is a comfort from Icchi and she will be fine. After all, she is worried about him. What else will be more comforting other than the person you are worrying about says that he is fine, right? All you guys have to do is counting on me. I have a plan for Icchi.”

Their menacing face expression and aura gradually turned softer.

“Ren-kun is right! What else will be more comforting for Haru-chan than a hug from Tokiya-kun?” Natsuki grinned excitedly.

“Yeah, you are right,” Syo admitted with the ‘I can’t believe this philanderer can be this thoughful’ look at Ren.

“I hate to say this but I will agree with you on this just because it is for the sake of Nanami,” Masato acknowledged.

“I used to be a ladies’ man, you know. Of course I know what a girl wants the most,” Ren remarked proudly.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Tomochika chuckled before her eyes widened. “Ah, Ichinose-san is coming.”

Those eyes with different colors immediately focused on the those love birds-to-be.

“Ichinose-san, are you okay?” Haruka touched the bandage around Tokiya’s head. There was a small red spot on it. “Does it still hurt? Do you feel dizzy?”

It broke their hearts how neurotic Haruka looked right now.

“Yes, I am okay. The doctor says that it will take a few days to recover.”

_“Yokatta,”_ the rosette breathed a sigh of relief. She looked down, attempting to cover her trembling hands.  

And this is when Jinguji Ren, the sudden and official love specialist of the clinic came to Tokiya’s rescue.

Ren waved slowly, attempting to gain himself attention, only from Tokiya.

“You guys,” before Tokiya could react more, Ren gestured him with ‘shhh’.

“Hug her. She is worried about you so you should comfort her.”

That was what Ren suggested, using his invented sign language.

But all he gained was a short and awkward attempt of Tokiya, patting the rosette’s shoulder which caused the scion mentally facepalmed.

“That’s not how you do it, Icchi,” he mumbled in frustration, sending the others chuckled except for Masato who just rolled his eyes. The rest of them suddenly found that this situation was amusing.

It became more amusing when Ren suddenly grabbed Syo to stand still before hugging him affectionately, much to the small boy’s disgust. “Icchi, like this. Hug her like this!”

“Oi, Ren! What the hell are you doing!? Let me go!”

“Just shut up,” Ren’s sudden determination to help the naive Tokiya got the better of him. For the first time in everyone’s life, Ren lost his laid-back image. “Icchi, hug her like this!”

“What? No!” Tokiya’s eyes widened in horror. “It’s awkward.”

“Just hug her like this, Tokiya-kun,” without anyone realizing, Natsuki and Cecil already hugged each other. “And she will surely hug you back like this.”

“Cut it out already, you guys. Do you have no shame?” Masato could not stand with the scene of two pair of guys hugging like that. It looked way more disturbing and embarrassing when other people started to glare and stare at them.

With a disapproved but blushed face, Tokiya slowly tried to hold her but...

To reach her shoulder possibly took more than a minute, much to Ren’s annoyance.

“Icchi, why are you so slow?” Ren sighed before abruptly approaching the couple.

“ _Ara.._ Lady, are you still sad?” Ren suddenly put an act, as if he just showed up from God-knows-who. He took a seat next to the composer while secretly giving a smirk to the perplexed Tokiya.

“Jinguji-san..”

“Come, let me comfort you,” as Ren was about to pull Haruka into his embrace, Tokiya, who let his body reacted first before his mind could even think swiftly pulled the said girl into his arms instead.      

Before he knew it, just the thought of Haruka being hugged by someone else other than him triggered him.

While Haruka was blushed with the sudden but warm contact, Tokiya gave a ‘don’t you dare’ glare to Ren who later smirked before giving ‘then, do it properly’ look back to the blue head.

“What a smooth move, Ren,” Otoya exclaimed in awe.

“What do you expect from Jinguji, Ittoki? Of course this is his expertise,” Masato remarked.

“Yeah, you are right. Just with that simple plan, we can see that Tokiya maybe has a feeling to Nanami,” Syo commented, gaining himself  nods from the others.

“So, are you okay  with the ‘pillow’ around you, Little Lamb?”

“Jinguji-san/Ren!!” Haruka and Tokiya blushed madly while shouting in unison.

“Maybe way too smooth,” Tomochika chuckled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comment, Otaku-san! I will try my best to meet your expectation.
> 
> Sooo, how was the chapter? Do you like it? I am sorry if Tokiya looked OOC here, with him blushing and getting nervous like that.. I only saw him keeping his cool face all the time in anime and I never played Utapri games so I don't know if he will blush madly because of Haruka. I just realized that we are already in chapter 15, but they still did not go out yet so I was like... oh my, their progression is too slow. I am sorry if the slowness bored you guys. I think it's natural for Tokiya to take time to open up and love somebody but when he does... you can expect more romantic stuffs from him. I am not good with writing romantic stories but I will try my best!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Haruka's wish started to become a reality...

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA**

 

 **Tokiya** and Otoya’s room, 11.03 a.m.

Tokiya   : Shucks!

Otoya    : Yeayyyy, I won again!!

Natsuki: Syo-chan, I bought a Piyo-chan shirt for you! Please put this on and you will look much cuter!

Syo       : Who said I want to be cuter, idiot!?

Ren       : _Moshi – moshi,_ Pretty Girl. Are you free today? Let’s go out and I will show you the... (basically, he kept flapping his gums about how beautiful Maaya is and how he would continue to hit on her even she kept saying that ‘love is forbidden’ according to their principal).

Masato: Poor Hazuki though... having to listen to that stupid flirt.

Cecil    : Masato, please have some pities for my clothes. You are supposed to sew it, not tear it!

“Hey, guys...” Otoya suddenly put his game console down as his Cell was kicked by Tokiya’s Super Vegeta incessantly. They were currently playing Dragon Ball game after Otoya forced his roommate to join him before getting surprised how zealous that blue head could be. “Have you guys already asked someone to be your dancing partner for the dancing night?”

“Nope. Not yet,” Masato and Cecil responded him almost in unison.

“I already dibs on Pretty Girl,” Ren replied, proudly.

“Pretty Girl?” Tokiya twiched his eyebrows before smiling proudly as he finally defeated Otoya after losing the match for three times already.

“He means Hazuki, his future wife,” Syo answered him while rolling his eyes.

“It seems like Ren is head over heels in love with Maaya as well. What an interesting development,” Cecil smiled in satisfaction. This was what he wanted. It was already the time when each of them (except Tokiya) moved on and opened their heart to another girl instead of loving Haruka who obviously had her eyes only for certain blue head.

“Hey, even a playboy like me can change and be a good lover, you know,” Ren was being narcissistic for God-knows-how-many-times, sending the others to give him a look of disgust except Natsuki and Otoya.

 “Good for you then,” Masato remarked sarcastically. “How about you, Ittoki?”

“I want to invite Nozomi,” Otoya grinned brightly, gaining himself smiles from others. Obviously, he was madly in love with the childhood friend of him. “But considering the ‘love is forbidden’ rule, I guess I have to be more careful, though..”

“Yup, that’s true,” Syo breathed a heavy sigh, followed by others.

“I think we should somehow rebel against the principal so that Icchi and Little Lamb can date properly like other people.”

“You mean, ‘so that YOU and HAZUKI can date properly like other people’, right?”

“Touche. Well, Hijirikawa, if the principal amends the rule, you and Shizuka-chan can also do calligraphy and sew clothes together..”

“Quit flapping your gums, Jinguji.”

“But seriously, what’s with the stupid rule, though? I still can’t believe that we cannot be in relationship with someone that we like. We are also a human being for crying out loud! We deserve to love and be loved and that’s the nature of human being!!” Cecil suddenly got dramatic and cringe-making while spreading his arms to the sky.

“Those are some funny lines coming from a cat,” Tokiya muttered sarcastically while his blue eyes still glued to the screen.

“Said a guy who acted aloof while in fact, he used to compliment a certain cute black cat 32 times a day,” Cecil retorted before forming an evil smile as his attention turned to the blue head.

“Shut up!”

“Then, how about you, Tokiya-kun? Do you already have someone in your mind?” Natsuki interrupted before those two boys fought and got themselves into detention again, especially when Tokiya almost turned into a violent monster.

“Me?” the moment he suddenly turned into a cynosure in the room, Tokiya knew there was no way he could play dumb around these annoying dorks. “Not.. yet.”

“Tokiya already has someone who already dibs on him. This lucky bastard..” Otoya also curved an evil smile and for some reasons, Tokiya could find a resemblance between the red head and Cecil.

“She is waiting for you, Icchi,” Ren’s casual remark sent the blue head panicky.

“It’s not nice to make a girl wait, Ichinose,” Masato’s stern warning made Tokiya gasping in shock. Well, it was surprising how the usual conservative Masato suddenly acted like a matchmaker. Not to mention that all this time, the blue head always had his back.

“Does she really wait for me to ask her? What if..”

“Of course she does, you blockhead!” before Tokiya knew it, his teammates already cockblocked him and yelled angrily (well, again, except Otoya and Natsuki who just simply sighed in disbelief).

“Who else would she wait for, you cat lover!?” Cecil continued to criticize the blue head.

“Tokiya, for someone who always acted in a romantic film, you sure can be this oblivious sometimes,” Syo sighed heavily. Even he was polite but it still sounded like a cruel insult.

“She loves you dearly, Icchi. Who else will she wait for? I bet if it is not because of the rule, she might already jump you..”

“And she will hug and kiss you here and there,” Natsuki interrupted so cheerfully as if he was talking about Piyo-chan.

“You guys..” Tokiya, Syo and Otoya restrained themselves from showing an ashamed look.

“Oi, Natsuki, Ren! Don’t talk about something mature like that so casually! Tokiya is not like us! His mind is only 17 years old so you cannot bring up such a hot topic like that!” despite squabbling with Tokiya most of the time, Cecil still considered about Tokiya’s feeling.

“That’s what concerned you, Aijima-san? You should concern about how adults can talk about something perverted casually when in fact, it can be a threat to our future generation!” Tokiya suddenly turned dramatic.

“You already sound like a father who gets worried about the future of his son. Interesting, Tokiya..” Cecil smirked but it was enough to push Tokiya’s buttons.

“Excuse me?”

Then, again, they suddenly started bickering even when they were supposed to be in the same party just now. While the others (except Ren who continued chatting with Maaya and Masato who sewed Cecil’s shirt), they tried to break the bickering even they absolutely had no ideas what the hell did Tokiya and Cecil fight about.

* * *

 

 **The** next morning, while Tokiya was brushing teeth, he was served with the sight of Natsuki’s bright smile, greeting him while bringing his own toothbrush and toothpaste. Well, why did they end up in the same bathroom when they are not roommates, let alone sharing the same bathroom? It was because all STARISH members ended up having a slumber party in Tokiya’s room after discussing and practising for their graduation audition.

“ _Ohaiyo_ , Tokiya-kun!”

“ _Ohaiyo_.The others are still asleep, huh?”

“Yes. They are probably still tired from the last night practice. Are you going to go to the kitchen after this?”

“No,” as he muttered the single word, Tokiya realized since Haruka has started to provide him bento three times a day, he did not even need to cook anymore. The girl sure knew how to overindulge him. Even he felt bad for the composer, but he could not resist those delicious cooking.

“Me too. Tomo-chan promised me to cook me a bento everyday for the rest of the week.”

“Oh... I see...” Tokiya twitched his brows as he came into realization about...

Since when Shibuya-san is mandatory to cook a breakfast for Shinomiya-san? Yes, they are close since they are in the same class and they do hang out together but..

“Tomo-chan is going to give me a bento everyday for the rest of the week. Is she sweet, Tokiya-kun?”

“Of course she is.”

“Just like what my mum used to say, to win a man’s heart, a girl’s cooking is the must. You must enjoy Haru-chan’s, right? I realized that you’ve gained weight, Tokiya-kun.”

“Have I?” the blue eyes widened in shock. Tokiya quickly observed his reflection in the mirror before realizing that he could not agree more with Natsuki.

“It’s okay, Tokiya-kun. If you gained weight, it means she does win your heart. Does she? Does she?” as Natsuki turned bubblier than usual, his face creepily moved closer to Tokiya’s, who could not help but moving backward.

“Wait, Shinomiya-san. Why did you suddenly talk about her and Shibuya-san? Could it be..” his cobalt blue eyes quickly turned wider again as he finally put two and two together. “Shinomiya-san, you are..”

“Not so loud, Tokiya-kun,” with his smiling eyes, his big hand closed Tokiya’s mouth before typically screaming the truth out loud (a reaction you can see almost in every drama) even Tokiya was not the type of being deafening no matter how shocked he could be. “But that’s not my point. Instead, I want to help you as your friend, Tokiya-kun.”

“Helping me as in..?”

“Your feeling to Haru-chan. You are still confused about what you feel about her, right? Or perhaps.. you are restraining yourself because of the ‘love is forbidden’ rule?”

“I can say both. Moreover, I don’t want to give her a false hope so I want to confirm about what I feel about her.”

“Eh? Is that so? I thought that you are already in love with Haru-chan. You know what, Tokiya-kun? Last night, I had a dream that both of us confronted principal so that he would allow us to date like normal people but we were expelled instead. Haha.”

For some reasons, Tokiya felt that suddenly telling him about his weird dream was not just Natsuki’s random talk.

“No worries, Tokiya-kun. I will try my best to help you! That’s my promise!” Natsuki grabbed and held Tokiya’s smaller hand, much to the blue head’s bewilderment. “Now, first and foremost, put your hand on your chest like this,” the jolly Natsuki suddenly turned determined as he placed Tokiya’s pale-skinned hand on Tokiya’s chest.

“Okay,” while wondering about what the hell did he do in the bathroom with Natsuki instead of brushing teeth, he reluctantly obeyed his teammate.

“Now, I will give you a bunch of questions about you and Haru-chan. You don’t need to answer me out loud. Just answer it in your head, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Yosh! First question.. when you know that Haru-chan only has her eyes for you, as time goes by, do you feel happy?”

Yes, he did. No. Come to think of it, feeling happy was totally an understatement.

“When you bumped into her, do you feel like... ah, it is not about her adorableness only that made you feel warm but her presence alone is enough to make you think that whatever problems you are going through, you think you can surpass it?”

Her sweet face crossed his mind and just like what Natsuki suggested, he felt a warmness that only he could get from her. Just the thought of her literally saved his days especially when he was troubled with his persona, Hayato and the endless conflicts with his mother.

“Do you feel like... this girl.. I want to make her mine. I don’t want to lose her to somebody else.”

His fair-skinned face turned redder as the question hit him like a a smack on the head. As his blue eyes widened, signaling that he was this close to solve his puzzlement, Natsuki was smiling brightly. It seemed like the big guy also could read his mind.

“But at the same time, you feel like, this wonderful girl.. I don’t deserve her. She deserves someone better than me.. I am nothing compared to her..”

Another smack on his head!

Having a hunch that his friends also love Haruka, Tokiya could not help but feeling that she should just move on instead of returning to her past and creating more memories with him.

Because.. Does that mean if the more bitter-sweet memories you shared with that particular person, the more you feel dejected if the person leaves you in the long run?

“It seems like you are this close to puzzle it out, Tokiya-kun. Next question, these days, you think that her happiness is your happiness. And to make her smiles, you will do anything because she used to say that your happiness is her happiness too. Am I right?”

As he listened to the last question, Tokiya knew that he already found the answer.

 “I love her, Shinomiya-san.”

“Eh?”

“I love Nanami Haruka.”

Slowly, Natsuki curved in a satisfied and happy smile to him. He patted Tokiya’s shoulder as the sign of congratulating him.

“I am so glad for you, Tokiya-kun! Haru-chan must feel happy if you tell her.”

“Hope so. Thank you, Shinomiya-san. You are such a good friend. If it was not because of you, I think I will still become an idiot fot not recognizing his own feeling... wait,” Tokiya’s grateful face suddenly turned confused. “Come to think of it, those questions that you asked me.. I think I have heard them somewhere..”

“Rather than questions, you have heard that in form of statements, right?”

“Yes, yes.. But where..”

“Rather than statements, they are in form of confession, right?”

“Yeah. Eh?” Tokiya froze for a while before...

“Shinomiya-san, did you just copy Nanami-san’s confession when we were in my house?”

“ _Hai_ , right after your mother left the house!” Natsuki admitted cheerfully, caused Tokiya’s legs to give out out of shock. “Do you remember, Tokiya-kun? Haru-chan said to you that those statements that I asked you are what the future you feels about her. She also said that she feels the same. So, I am here because I want to help you to figure out either you feel the same way to Haru-chan.”

“Wow...” Tokiya exclaimed while trying hard to not be speechless. He knows, he should not be surprised with Natsuki’s strong memory since the guy is a genius after all. “That method of yours, Shinomiya-san... It’s awesome.”

“Thank you, Tokiya-kun!”

“No, no. I should be the one who say that instead. Thank you, Shinomiya-san. This is a second time I seek for some advices from you and I must say your help means a lot to me,” Tokiya smiled chummily at him, attempting to form it as bright as possible to match Natsuki’s smile.

Actually, words could not describe how much he felt grateful to the big guy. He would sure pay his good deed soon.  

“Awhh, Tokiya-kun! You look even cuter when you smile like that! Can I hug you?” out of nowhere, Natsuki’s cuteness-freak mode was activated again before bearhugging the blue head tightly.

“What!? Wait! Where did that come from? Shinomiya-san, I cannot breathe!”

The struggle was very real once you found yourself trapped in Natsuki’s hug. It was suffocating since like for the time being, Natsuki treated you as the cutest and most precious little creature in the world.

“Waaa, Shinomiya-san! Let me go!” the idol’s face started to turn redder with such an overaffectionate contact.

“I won’t! You look so small and cute, Tokiya-kun!”

“Hey, I am not small!”

“You are seven centimetres shorter than me! Ah, come to think of it, I used to hold the late Tokiya-kun high! You know, that _takai, takai_ thing.. Ah, what a memory..”

“What? Did you do something like that to him?” Tokiya’s face turned white as paper as he could predict what would happen next while suddenly feeling sympathetic to the future him.

Please don’t do it again.. please don’t do it again... please don’t do it...

“I guess that I will do it again!”

Shucks!

“What!? No!! Please listen to me, Shinomiya-san!”

Tokiya accidentally pushed Natsuki’s glasses as he struggled to stop Natsuki from tossing him to the air until it was thrown away to the floor.

There was a moment of silence. Tokiya knew that nothing could be creepier than being held by Natsuki who was now without his glasses because..

Believe it or not, this gentle and Piyo-chan lover has suffered a split personality disorder and that ‘another personality’ of gentle Natsuki was no other than.....

Satsuki, the violent guy who, according to his friends, just attacked any souls around him.

Yet, in Tokiya’s case, he was no longer in the ‘around’ category but he was held tightly by Satsuki’s strong arms for crying out loud! He was totally trapped! Was he digging his own grave now even he was not the one who asked Natsuki to hug him in the first place?

“Shinomiya-san.. are you okay?”

“You..” the bright green eyes suddenly looked like he was determined to kill someone. Who else though? “I hate you.”

Before they knew it, a pair of glasses was shoved by a pair of small hands, right from Satsuki’s back.

It was Syo, Tokiya’s savior for the morning.

“Ehh?” expectedly, Natsuki returned to normal. His green eyes grew wider while wandering everywhere. “What happened?” he turned to his back, getting himself thrilled upon seeing the adorable best friend of his. “Syo-chan, _ohaiyo_!! You look so cute with your bed head!”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Tokiya muttered as he stared blankly at Syo, with his funny bed head, struggling to break Natsuki’s hellish hug.

“Stop playing around and taking a bath! You are supposed to meet Shibuya, do you forget?”

“Oh my Lord! I forgot that! See you at school, Syo-chan, Tokiya-kun!”

After Natsuki got out from the room, Syo and Tokiya breathed a heavy but relieved sigh in unison.

“Thank you, Syo.”

“Nah, don’t mention it. What a chaotic morning, right?”

“Yeah, as expected from Shinomiya-san..”

“Are you perhaps.. being bearhugged by him?” Syo asked hesitantly while his face was ready to give the blue head an ‘I feel you, bro’ look.

“Yeah but I accidentally hit his glasses. I think that was Satsuki for a few seconds until you made him wore the glasses back.”

“Do you mean his face looks intimidating all of sudden?” Syo could not hide his slight shock as Tokiya nodded yet later, it was replaced with a convincing smile. “I think you don’t need to worry about Satsuki anymore. He had promised to Natsuki that he will be ‘one’ with him or meaning to say, he will let Natsuki lives his own life. He just showed up when Natsuki suffers. I guess with the way Natsuki looks so cheerful everytime he talks about Shibuya, I am positive that Satsuki will never appear again. He And Shibuya... I guess that they will be an interesting couple, considering their vivacious personality. Ah, you both also can make a good couple. Well done, Tokiya! Nanami will be very happy to hear your ‘I love Nanami Haruka’ part. What a good way to put it, man.”

“Wait! Did you just..”

“Yes, I did,” Syo slowly excused himself from the bathroom before accelerating to his bedroom, fearing the worst since he has been caught eavesdropping.

“Syo!!” Tokiya’s frustrated shout managed to wake up every single soul in his room.

* * *

 

 **What** happened during the lunch break on the same day was rather unexpeted. Syo secretly gave a small note to Tokiya while they were in class and apparently, Syo did not even want Ren and Cecil to know about it.

Long story short, they promised to meet at their secret rendezvous.

“Syo, why do you...” Tokiya’s question was cut-short by Syo’s serious face expression.

No. ‘Seriousness’ is not the right word. In fact...  

“I am sorry,” the husky voice suddenly turned dejected. “The reason why I want to meet you here because I.. I am so sorry, Tokiya.”

Tokiya stared at his classmate blankly.

“What are you sorry about, Syo?”

Syo’s blue eyes met his. “To tell you the truh, a few hours before the late Tokiya died, I.. I fought with him.”

The cobalt blue eyes widened.

“I just broke up with my girlfriend and he saw it. I believe he knows the fact that I broke up several times because of Nanami and he tried to comfort me but.. I.. I lashed out at him because I was so stressed out. I scolded him for being the one who Nanami chose when...” Syo found it hard to continue.

“When all of you love her dearly,” Tokiya added flatly.

“Wait, Tokiya.. How do you know...” Syo’s blank and pale face received chuckles from the perfectionist.

“It’s kind of obvious that you guys love her. I mean yeah, some of you guys have moved on but... just from the way you guys prioritize her over everything, I can tell that she is special for STARISH.”

Syo smiled bitterly. “To tell you the truth, all this time, I feel so sinful to the late Tokiya to the point of... I know this sounds pathetic but every time I remember how he ended his life, how he was so persistent to sacrifice himself for Nanami.. I guess I was in no position to scold him for being the guy that Nanami chose. In fact, Nanami is so lucky for choosing him..”

“Syo..”

“I love Nanami. I truly love Nanami!  Even now, I still do but seeing how she treasures you more than everything, I think can finally give up on her. You know what? after Nanami decided to marry you, while the rest of us supported you both, at the same time, we were so disappointed with her choice. Even STARISH was still together, we still cannot forget Nanami. But now, at least, the other guys started to move on and I am so happy for them.”

“And at that night, when I felt sorry to explode to the late Tokiya when he didn’t do anything wrong, I wanted to apologize.. I mean... I really wanted to apologize to him on the next day. I wanted to see him but the moment I knew that he was dead from protecting our precious Nanami... I..” much to Tokiya’s surprise and dismay, Syo cried instantly. “It hit me hard. I can’t believe that he left us so early in such disturbing way. If only I apologized to him earlier.. No, if only I didn’t lash out at him at the first place..”

“Syo, don’t say that..”

“Tokiya...” the small boy wiped his soaked cheeks before continuing, “I know it is too late and sounds improper but... I am sorry for what I had done to you. I.. I am really sorry.”

“It’s okay. I think, considering how Nanami is hard to be replaced, I am sure the late Tokiya already forgave you.”

“You think so?”

“Yes,” Tokiya smiled chummily. “Because he knows that you love Nanami-san so much so he understands you.”

“What about you? You finally know what do you feel about her. Are you going to confess to her?”

“Yes,” Tokiya’s convincing answer gained a sigh of relief from Syo. “After all that we’ve gone through together, it is impossible for me to not feel anything about her. I still cannot forget her face expression when we were almost hit by that car.”

“Speaking about the car.. I think.. I have a hunch. Just a hunch and this is the second reason why I want to meet you here. I hope this will be a secret between us.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to help you, Tokiya. You and the late Tokiya because I assume that your life is not only in danger but... I think that the lunatic fan who killed the late Tokiya is closer than we think..”

The cobalt blue eyes widened in horror.

* * *

 

 **For** once in their lifetime as Saotome Academy students, they could so-called date and having fun with their respective partners only in a Saotome Academy dance night ceremony.

Ren already asked Maaya to be his dance partner, much to the whole school’s shock. Well, come to think of it, since Maya became his composer for the first assignment, he ignored all those fangirls who followed him around. Instead, he turned besotted with her, much to the girl’s disbelief.

Masato and Otoya would just simply ask Shizuka and Nozomi respectively since outsiders were allowed to join the event, leaving Syo and Cecil with no partners so far.

Meanwhile in A class..

“ _Ne,_ Haruka. Natsuki asked me to be his partner for the ceremony,” Haruka could see the bright smile of her best friend, Tomochika. Her eyes would turn sparkling everytime she mentioned the said boy’s name.

“You address him as Natsuki already? Are you guys...”

“Shhh, don’t tell anyone!” Tomochika desperately and nervously looked around as they were currently in their packed class and after she made sure that nobody heard them, she continued,“he asked me to date him last week. For some reasons, I found him to be irresitable. I have this kind of feeling where I want to make him mine so I have decided to date him.”

“Is that so? Congratulations, Tomo-chan.”

Tomo-chan is so lucky. She can dance with someone that she loves. Her mind instantly registered the image of Tokiya.

It would be the best thing ever if she could partner him but... the choice was his. She did not want to force him when she herself was uncertain about what the blue head felt about her.

Like she used to say to him, she just wanted to be his family so should act like one.

In the evening, as she was about to go back to her dorm after doing some revisions in the library, as cliched it may sound in _shoujo manga_ , she ended up bumping into someone who never left her mind.

To make it more cliched, the guy managed to catch her petite frame.

Ahh, what a memory... she used to bump into him so many times before but she never took them as something that she should relish until she realized her feeling to him.

“Just like what the guys said, you are incredibly clumsy,” Tokiya slowly loosened his hold around her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Y..yes..”

 “Where are you going?”

“I.. I am on my way to the dorm. How about you?”

“What a coincidence. I was thinking about you just now. Can we.. perhaps, walking together to the dorm?”

“Sure!” she was too happy to conceal her excitement upon realizing that she could spend more time with the blue head.

Not to mention he obviously stated that he was thinking about her.

“Okkay.. Let’s go,” she could see there was a slight amusement written over his pale-skinned face upon seeing her thrill.

A few minutes passed, along with silence as Tokiya and Haruka walked together.

“ _Ne,_ Nanami-san.”

“Yes?”

“Actually, I.. I have something to share with you. Can you lend an ear for a while?” Tokiya’s blue eyes stared the ground, seemingly fighting with himself about that ‘something’.

“Sure. What is it?”

They spontanously stopped walking as soon as they arrived by their favourite gazebo. Haruka took a glance at Tokiya.

“Ichinose-san.”

“Yes.”

“Is it me or do you feel so nervous now?”

“Eh? Well, I do feel nervous now.”

“Why?”

No answers. Instead, he just stared at anything except Haruka. 

Hm.. what happened? I guess, he will talk about it later.

“Okay. So, what is it?” Haruka asked, totally excited to know because basically, she is interested in everything about him.

“I.. actually about the dance night...”

On the spur of the moment, Haruka could feel that she was the one who got more high-strung. If he mentioned about the dance night, it only meant one thing.

He would ask someone to be his partner. The thought alone made Haruka’s heart sank with jealousy and sadness.

“Yes?”

“Everybody keeps talking about the dancing session and since I don’t have my partner yet and Otoya won’t shut up about it, I want to ask for your opinion.”

“Eh? My opinion?” his question torn her heart out. “Do you actually want me to suggest some nice girls to you?”

“No, I already have someone in my mind from the start,” he quickly denied it. “Not to mention that I want her to be my partner for other occasions other than the ceremony.”

And now her heart turned into pieces. She knew exactly what Tokiya meant.  

Who is that lucky b.. no, Haruka. You are not supposed to curse someone who is innocent. Maybe she is so wonderful in Tokiya-kun’s eyes, she bit her lips in dejection even she absolutely had no ideas who else would be closer with Tokiya other than her.

But, there were quite a bunch of girls from S Class who are charismatic enough to match Tokiya, though.

“Oh, is that so?” she mentally coaxed herself to not burst into tears in front of him. She did not want to be that pathetic.“Good for you, Ichinose-san. Who is..”

“Nanami-san, what will you do if a guy confesses that he loves you?” without sparing Haruka some times to be more melancholic, Tokiya cut her short with his ridiculous and no sense-of-timing question because according to Ren...

_“Doing it spontaneously is better, Icchi. Being spontaneously means it comes from your heart and that’s what a typical girl like Lady loves the most.”_

Yet, compared to his Hayato who won the hearts of the girls for his countlessly sweet and romantic roles (thanks to the script), he, Ichinose Tokiya was terrible without a script. For the first time in Tokiya’s life, Tokiya felt that his sweet little guts was not enough to face the girl who stole his heart.    

But, here he was, being spontaneous. Was it going to work?

 “Well, I.. I will thank him but I will reject him nicely”, Haruka stuttered because she honestly did not know what to feel anymore.

It was all because the no-sense-of-timing question.

“What happen if the guy is me? Are you going to reject me as well?” Tokiya looked so cool and confident to let out those lines out of his mouth when in fact..

Only God knew how much he wanted to dig the ground and hide out of embarrassment. Obviously, he was a terrible sweet talker compared to Ren. Seriously, how did Ren do this? Being cheesy with his pick up lines every time he was with Maaya.

And come to think of it, how did someone timid like Haruka easily said ‘I love you’ and so forth to him before without even planning to kill herself afterwards?

_“Do it spontaneously is better, Icchi. Being spontaneously means it comes from your heart..”_

I know, Ren! Enough with the rewind already, won’t you!? Tokiya mentally scolded the actually-innocent scion from lecturing him about ‘being spontaneous’.

“Ehh??” meanwhile, Haruka could feel that her cheeks sort of burned. “That.. that wil be a different story obviously. But why did you ask me about a guy who loves me?”

“Because the guy is me.”

“Eh?”

It seemed like that sentence is the most impossible thing in the world to the point of it managed to make Haruka ‘s brain buffered as it processed the line.

Haruka was too shocked to react. She continued to stare blankly at Tokiya until the blue head could not stand it anymore.

“It’s okay. Just forget that I even asked you that. See you tomorrow,” he spoke too fast while cursing himself for being stupidly failed to confess and was about to head straight to the dorm when Haruka grabbed his hand.

“Ichinose-san, by any chance, could it be...” as she eventually got him, she noticed the blush on his cheeks became more obvious.

“Excuse me..” he abruptly left her but she still was persistent to know the answer.

“Ichinose-san, can you please repeat it?”

“No,” he refused to meet her golden orbs, taking advantage to walk as fast as possible, considering her short legs could not catch up with his fast pace.

“Waa, Ichinose-san, please!” Haruka cried cutely as she mentally cursed herself for being so dense.

You just missed the golden chance ever, Nanami Haruka! Just go and die instead!

Suddenly, he stopped before facing Haruka, with his still crimson face.

“I love you. Satisfied?” he managed to mutter those long-awaited three words. It was such a relief when he finally confessed to her but seeing Haruka this up close, he decided that ‘I love you’ line was not enough. He needed to make it clear what he truly felt about Haruka in detail.

He grabbed Haruka’s shoulders before pulling her closer, much to the rosette’s shock.

“Nanami Haruka, I love you and you are the one who I particularly had my eyes on. At first, I think that you are a creep because you know me too much for a stranger. But as time goes by, I was touched by that creepy side of yours to the point of when you are around, I have this confidence that I can surpass no matter how hard my problems are. Not to mention that you are always there when I was hopeless. You know what I need. Your loving side made me agreed with the adult me that you are precious. I know I sound ridiculous but even I do feel that a wonderful girl like you deserves a much better guy than me, yet the thought of losing you to another guy who will receive your love which I gratefully receive it now makes me frustrated. I know I have a short time to make you happy but I really want to treasure you with all the times I had. I don’t care about the ‘love is forbidden’ rule anymore because I don’t want to lose such a wonderful girl like you or to make it short, all those weird things that the late Tokiya felt about you, what you felt about me.. I feel it now, Nanami-san!”

Here we go, Ichinose Tokiya; the spontaneous version with most of his lines were plagiarized from the future him. For sure, he would gain a respect from Jinguji Ren, the self-appointed king of spontaneity because not only he was being sincere with every single word that he blurted out to her but he also made it happened in one single heck of breath.

Yet, much to his surprise, Haruka started crying.

He used to see her crying when she was sad. So did it mean...

“Wait! Did I just make you sad, Nanami-san?” he asked while his big hands still held her shoulders.

“Which part of your confession would possibly make me sad when that is what I waiting for all this time?” she asked while still sobbing.

“Then, why are you..”

“I am happy!” she shouted. “I am happy and that’s why I am crying.”

“But Nanami-san, the way you cried made it look like I just scolded you for stealing my homework..”

“Did I?” she asked, rather comically with her still crying face.

Tokiya smiled, feeling entertained with this girl’s reaction before he gave her kisses on her cheeks. Just like a magic but not enough to be a surprise, she stopped crying immediately.

She felt like she was blessed with the form of...

No, that was too cheesy, too cringe-worthy. But one thing for sure was...

My husband and this younger version of Tokiya sure like to kiss my cheeks. Waaaaa, I cannot handle this! she thought out of panic as the realization about Tokiya’s habit since they went out until they got married crossed her mind.

Come to think of it, this kind of skinship is the first one I received from him, shortly after our confession.

“Ichinose-san, I am surprised that you can initiate a skinship like this,” she responded to him with the similar line when he kissed her cheeks for the first time.

Yet, his response was actually the climax of the day.

“Only with you and it is because I love you, Nanami-san. I swear, after this, I will be the best man for you. I will protect you and I will even sacrifice my life for you if the situation asks for it.. Thank you, Nanami-san. Thank you for loving me all this time.”

The same lines. It was the same with his vow on that day.

“Okay. That was enough for today,” he suddenly broke his tight hug before turning his back towards her. Haruka did not need to be a genius to guess how Tokiya felt so embarrassed. “I never thought a confession would be so hard to do. I am going back to the dorm. See you tomorrow.”

See you tomorrow? No, I can’t wait for tomorrow!

“Ichinose-san!” she suddenly jumped onto him before hugging him tightly, causing both of them toppled to the ground. Luckily, other students were already at their dorm so the risk for the love birds to get caught red-handed was low even they still had to be careful.

“That hurts!”

“Sorry. I guess I am just too excited,” she stroked his head playfully, caused him to roll his eyes.

“Well, you are always excited everytime I see you.”

“Well, you are the one who always make me overexcited, Ichinose-san!”

“It’s my fault now!?”

“No, it’s our’s faults!”

“But you still make it like my fault as well when I am innocent all this time.”

“In this situation, how come you still claimed that you are innocent, you bad boy!? You’re guilty because you make my heart skipped a beat,” she put her hand onto her chest dramatically. “I bet you also feel the same right? Considering how nervous you are right now.”

“I am not,” Tokiya tried to put a poker face but to no avail. Instead, he was this close to scream at the world just how embarrassed he felt right now.

“Owhh, you _tsundere_! Let me hear you heartbeat... Wow, it pumps faster too. I guess it makes two of us.”

“Hey, don’t just casually put your ears on somebody’s chest like that!”

“I won’t do like that on somebody chest other than yours. Wait, Ichinose san! Do you feel jealouse right now? Aww, you are such a cutie!”

“Don’t call me cutie!”

“Then, can I call you Tokiya-kun, Tokiya-kun?”

“You already called me that.”

“Can I?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Then, try calling me ‘Haruka’.”

“No way!!”

As they continued enjoying their times together, they never knew their recklessness when love is forbidden in the school might cause another disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 16! So, how was it, guys? Do you like it? Please let me know what do you think because I always want to improve my writing. Thanks to the guest who gave the 10th Kudos!
> 
> And speaking about this chapter, the reason why I posted it sooner because I want to take a break for a while. Apart from because of my personal commitment and want to update my second fanfic, the other reason is since Haruka and Tokiya officially dated, I really want to write their high school love story.. I mean how they went out for a date, how they acted around each other after they developed their relationship for the next chapter but I absolutely.. I mean absolutely don't have any idea to begin with..lol. I guess I will use this break to watch movies or something to get some inspiration. So, sayonara!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TokixHaru's love story... STARTED!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also long. I don't know why but as I am typing when the inspiration finally hits me, I just typed nonstop until I realized it was.. wait! What am I rambling on so much about? I guess I was over excited for Haruka and that's why I wrote her love story with Tokiya this long. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy this chapter!

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA**

 

 **“Since** I lost my parents, I left Fukouka and moved to Tokyo in order to fulfill my dream. Unlike other trainees who have parents or at least someone to cheer them up, I didn’t have anybody. I didn’t have anyone who would drop by and bring me a delicious lunch box. Since I also didn’t have friends during my training, I suppose my life had been peaceful because it didn’t have unnecessary dramas. I don’t have friends who claimed themselves as friends but ended up stabbing me in the back… I didn’t even get any single Christmas present even I was a child because nobody even loved me enough to buy me one..”

“Why is his story getting sadder, though?” Syo furrowed his brows  out of puzzlement.

“Not to mention he talked about it as if it’s normal to not have your parents and work to support yourself. Heck, I couldn’t even live for one second if my parents were not around,” Cecil stated.

“But, if I am not mistaken, we asked him about his relationship with Lady, right? Why did it turn into this?” Ren glanced at Masato.

“Who knows…” Masato was busy pitying Tokiya who grew up lonesome during his childhood. “Poor Ichinose..”

“And my life continued like that until I met Haruka. Because of her, my simple life turned surreal dramatic.”

Masato, Cecil and Ren just smirked in acknowledgement while the rest let out chuckles. That alone was enough to make them understood about what Tokiya tried to say.

He simply meant that his life suddenly became a story that was copied and pasted from countless romance movie scripts. It started with a girl, who appeared out of nowhere, claiming that she came from their future. She continued stalking him and when he interrogated her out of annoyance, she claimed that she is his future wife and so forth. He was dead from protecting her and she would do anything so that she could spend more time with him because she loves him so much. Just like what you watched or predicted, the male lead would eventually fall in love with her sincerity, beauty, determination et cetera.

Which turned out to be the exact same thing with Tokiya’s life. He finally fell in love with the girl.

 “Yeah. After Tokiya met Nanami, his peaceful life turned hilarious. They even accidentally created a scandal after the morning assembly,” Otoya recollected the look Tokiya gave after he and Haruka were caught for being lovey-dovey in the midst of the crowd.

It looked like Tokiya was this close to punch Haruka in the face if it was not because she possesses a gender which the society respects and treasures affectionately called ‘female’.   

Tokiya nodded, seemingly deep in thought before remarking, “Yeah, Otoya is right. Even I was cast as a male lead a lot, I hate to deal with a dramatic life like them. But since I met Haruka, there is another think that I noticed lately.”

“What is it?” Otoya asked.

“After we both started dating, I realized that everyone also started becoming dramatic.”

“What do you mean by that? Did you speak in some old Japanese accent because apparently, I don’t really catch what you are implying,” Cecil remarked, impatiently.

“I don’t think so, though.. My butler also speaks in old accent but I can understand him well,” Masato refuted.

“In other words, Icchi’s language is beyond our understanding as a Japanese speaker..” Ren added, caused the said blue head’s angry nerve throbbed on his brow.

“What am I? An alien? I am speaking a standard Japanese of course,” Tokiya rolled his eyes. “What I meant was.. One night, when I met her at our secret place..”

* * *

 

 **“Tokiya-kun,** where are you? This place is so dark. Where are you?” Haruka mumbled anxiously as their secret rendezvous, a massive Sakura tree near the lake became darker.

Tokiya called her just now, saying that he would be a bit late due to his tight schedule. But, it was already 10 minutes since the rosette waited for him in patience yet…

He was not there yet and the fact that it was drizzling out of the blue, with the weird sounds of animals came out of nowhere could not assist her to overcome her panic.

So, she decided to go back to their dorm first when suddenly, she could hear a cracking sound from twigs.

What’s with the sound? Who stepped on it? Was there anyone else around here beside her? Who was it, though?

Suddenly, she could catch a glimpse of a human-like shadow, dashed not far from her before disappeared.

Is it me or there is another person here? It couldn’t be Tokiya-kun..

 “Haruka…”

Her fair skin became creepily cold all of sudden as her ears caught the soft voice, calling her name.

“Who is it!?”

“It’s me..”

“Who!? Please don’t disturb me! I want to meet my boyfriend here. We want to have a fun date since he has been so busy lately but wait! Are you perhaps… a spirit here? A spirit that the principal hires so that there are no lovers here? Or perhaps.. You know.. A sad spirit who had a dark past with your relationship and after you died, you ended up bothering anyone who is in relationship. Look.. Whatever happened to you, I really empathize that. I understand that it must be hard for you and your lover but pleaseeee… don’t ruin our short date. I have my own reason why I am in a relationship with my boyfriend. He’s my future husband and I love him so much.. Aish, I can’t even coax a ghost now because I am so scared and..” 

“Haruka!” a touch on her shoulder sent her screaming at the top of her lungs. Her hand threw away to the sky and..

No. Correction. ‘Throwing away to the sky’ is a downright hyperbole because apparently, her wrist, which covered by the bracelet hit someone’s face. Once the person screamed a bit, she immediately knew that she was just dramatic and hyper imaginative just now.

“Tokiya-kun, are you okay?” she cupped his slightly annoyed face. “Oh my God, the cut… I am so sorry.. You still have a schedule tonight but I..”

“It’s okay. The camera would not catch it but please Haruka, for the heaven’s sake, can you please stop being dramatic already? It’s just me. What’s the deal with coaxing a ghost?”

“You should state that you are Tokiya-kun instead,” in the midst of panicky and embarrassment, she accidentally hit Tokiya’s nose.. Again..

“Waaa, Tokiya-kun! I am sorry.. aaaa!” she leaned in to take a closer look at his poor nose but what happened next was unexpected.

They crouched just on the edge of a small hill, so when she leaned in…

She ended up pushing themselves, rolling to the lower ground.

“Oh. My. God,” as Haruka lay on her back, she felt too embarrassed to look at Tokiya. She stared blankly at the dark sky, ridiculously offered herself to be a sacrifice to any entity so that Tokiya would have a better life and girlfriend.

“Tokiya-kun, are you okay?” instead of approaching him out of worry, she did not move an inch. She did not have a nerve to face her boyfriend.

“Yes, I am okay,” he muffled.  

“No, don’t come any closer! Please don’t!” she became desperate as she could hear Tokiya approaching her.

“Are you okay, Haruka?”

“Yes, yes! I am.. Insanely fine but please.. Don’t come any closer! I will accidentally hit your nose again and I…”

“Hit me all you want but you can worry about that later.”

“Eh?”

He scooped her small body into his arms. The next thing she knew, their faces were so close to each other, taking shelter under Tokiya’s umbrella.

“Stay under this umbrella or you will catch a cold.”

“Thank you.. And I am sorry...” she was about to cry, both from embarrassment and guilt.

“Such a clumsy girl you are,” he sighed. “Oh my.. Our faces are so close.”

“Why? You don’t like it?” she turned confused. It was too dark for her to see Tokiya’s face expression.

Which was a good thing apparently because the blue head did not want her to know how red his face was and how his heart thumped so fast when he saw her beauty up close.    

“It’s not that..” his attention was shattered as he saw a human-like shadow right behind Haruka. “Who is it?”

No answers of course. Instead, the shadow suddenly disappeared from his sight.

“What’s wrong, Tokiya-kun?” she turned to her back but she could only see trees.

“I think I just saw someone over there.”

“You too? I thought I saw it too just now.”

For a few seconds nobody said anything. They somehow could guess that they were thinking about the same thing.

Could it be.. The guy with the mysterious black car?

“Haruka, let’s change our rendezvous, shall we?”

* * *

 

 **“Woahhh,** it’s dramatically…” Ren commented with his eyes wide opened.

“Scary,” Otoya added, gaining nods from his friends. Almost all of them folded their arms, feeling a sudden chill down their spines. 

“What’s the deal with the shadow though? Could it be.. our teacher?” Cecil threw a random guess.

“I don’t think so. If it was one of our teachers, both Ichinose and Nanami would be punished on the spot,” Masato suggested.

“Yeah, Hijirikawa is right. They will never let it slide,” Syo agreed. “It will be dangerous for Nanami to wait for Tokiya alone.”

“Yeah.. considering the owner of the black car is still missing, we have to be careful and that’s why we decided to have a date at the city but again… a drama is being a drama.”

* * *

 

 **“Am** I.. could it be, I am lost?” the rosette looked around, totally panicky when she realized that the surrounding did not look familiar at all.

She could see a family restaurant which she never knew its existence, a big shopping mall and…

“Waaa, so stupid of me!. Even I am already an adult who returned to her past but I am still easily lost. What happen if Tokiya-kun cannot find me? Where is the police when I really need him?”

Haruka never realized that Tokiya was already nearby, with his disguised appearance; a baseball cap, a pair of glasses, hazel contact lens, a scarf around his neck and casual outfit, having fun to see her getting lost by herself.

Those guys are right. She doesn’t have a sense of direction, Tokiya thought as he fixed his glasses from falling over his nose. He looked around, making sure that no souls could recognize that he is Hayato who could only daydream about wandering around the city without a perfect disguise.

“Where is Tokiya-kun?” she tried to call him but to no avail.

Did she try to call me? I forgot that I switched off the phone, Tokiya reached out his smart phone.

_6 missed calls from Haruka._

I guess I should meet her now or she will cry, as Tokiya walked to her, a police who came out of nowhere suddenly grabbed his arm.

“You! Why did you keep peeking at the girl? Are you a stalker?” a buff-looking policeman with an intimidating moustache suddenly yelled at him, enough to attract unwanted attention from the passers-by.

What the…

“No. I’m..”

“Don’t lie to me! Why are you covering your face? Do you plan to kidnap her? Because of a bastard like you, this town is not peaceful like it is used to be anymore and women also don’t have their freedom to walk around without being assaulted!” as the policeman lectured him like an activist who fights for women’s rights, other people also started to form a circle around both of them, much to Tokiya’s shock.

If they knew this innocent and so-called bastard is Hayato, the celebrity, it would be a catastrophe. Not only him but Haruka would be finished as well.

“No. The truth is.. that girl is my girlfriend. I just want to surprise her..”

“For the God sake, young man.. If you think you can escape with such a lame ruse, I am sorry to say. There are too many perverts in this world who used the same tactic to..”

“But she is my girlfriend for real!” this time, Tokiya lashed out, did not give a damn if they recognized his voice by any chance. It was so hard for him to date with Haruka but when he finally had a chance..

He was distracted by a policeman who claimed him as a pervert. 

“You are just in delusion! A pervert always sees his object of obsession as his girlfriend! Wake up, young man! Your future is still bright as long as you have something better to do!”

As the pavement had become an instant and free soup opera, more pedestrians made a circle around those duo, giving the most insulting look that a decent guy like Tokiya had ever received, which eventually attracted the so-called object of obsession, Nanami Haruka.

“What happened?” she sneaked into the circle before gasping loudly. She was already notified how Tokiya’s disguise would look like so to see her boyfriend in such an absurd state is..

Absurd.

“Officer, why did you handcuff him? Just what happened..”

“Oh, it’s you. This dude just stalked you and most probably he would do something bad for you so I just don’t want that to happen,” the man who was supposed to take a break from his job showed a sudden determination to send Tokiya to the prison at all costs.

“What!?” Haruka screamed as the absurdity hit her head, making everybody around her flinched.

“Haruka, please help me.. He doesn’t believe me,” Haruka knew just how mortified Tokiya felt right now.

But considering his suspicious appearance, anybody could somehow relate to the policeman. Apparently, he just fulfilled his duty.

“Officer, I think it is merely a misunderstanding. He is my boyfriend. Toki.. I mean.. I think Tomoya just followed me around because he just wanted to surprise me or something,” Tokiya just nodded vigorously in order to convince the policeman or else, he would totally screw it up.  

“Are you sure, Young Lady? This turtle is your boyfriend? How come you can recognize him when you cannot even see his face?”

“Please don’t call him a turtle and yes, I recognized him. Please let him go and don’t humiliate him in public like this..”

 “Young Lady,” the officer’s fierce face expression suddenly turned ridiculously sympathetic. “It is useless if you want to protect your abuser. If your boyfriend is being abusive, just say it. I am afraid if you continue with..”

“No, no. That’s not what I mean, officer..” she desperately waved her hands in order to deny the assumption since most probably, he just suspected her to be a potential Stockholm syndrome sufferer.  

“Just tell me, young lady. Did he stalk you? Did he steal your money? Is he obsessive? And one more thing, why is he being like this, though? Covering up his face? Let me see..”

“I told you he’s not!!” as the guy was this close to ruin Tokiya’s disguise, Haruka screamed at the top of her lungs, did not care if she injured the others’ eardrums instead.

Apparently, her sinister shout seemed working out the most because apparently, the policeman froze on his spot.

“He is my boyfriend! To define, he is the man whom I love so much because he’s been protective, not abusive! He covers up his face because he has a skin disease. He was so nervous to show his face in public but he made it because he really wants to have a peaceful date with me! He only has two months to live so please, spare his life! I love him and he’s not a PERVERT!!”

* * *

 

 **“And** then, the others gave us a round of applause,” Tokiya ended his story with a still in disbelief look.

 “A skin disease with two months to live? That’s so random but it worked out though. As expected from Haruka,” Cecil exclaimed in awe with Haruka’s ability to act like a wonder woman for the sake of Tokiya.

“What’s with the officer, though? Honestly, he needs to do something with his imagination. It’s way too absurd,” Syo commented before gaining himself an ‘I know right’ look from Tokiya.

“Just like what you stated just now, as time goes by, your life slowly turned more dramatic, Ichinose,” Masato remarked.

“Yeah, you are right,” Tokiya chuckled. “Regardless of that, Haruka also has this clingy and cute side like you, Shinomiya-san...”  

“Eh, me? I don’t think I am cute, though. Everyone else is cute but not me,” Natsuki replied, innocently.

“Yeah, that really sounds like Haruka. She calls me cute but she doesn’t realize how cute she is,” Tokiya suddenly scowled at Ren. “And she is also flirtatious like you, Ren.”

“Is that bad?” Ren twitched his brows, stupidly being oblivious with the death stares he received from the others.

* * *

 

 **Today,** I am Tomoya. A sweet pervert who stalked his own girlfriend and has a chronic skin disease with only two months to live, Tokiya thought out of disbelief as he chewed the yakisoba that Haruka fed him. His blue orbs wandered around the park, feeling relieved with the fact that it was less populated.

Unlike just now.. The idea of taking Haruka to a shopping mall was proved crazy.

He did not sure either it was their policy to treat customers way too friendly or something but just now, if it was not because of his sweet little rationality, he might just scold those salesgirls for poking their noses into the couple’s date. Even he was a changed man but he still treasured his privacy the most.

And the privacy involved how he treated Haruka like a princess but he did not need any audience or witness for their lovey-dovey moments. Not only a few salesgirls were over excited to entertain them, every damn time, when he chose a few adorable outfits for Haruka, there were always squeaky voices exclaimed;

“Oh my God, her boyfriend chose a dress for her! So thoughtful!”

“I want a boyfriend like him too! Not only he is serious to buy her a dress but he also has a good fashion sense!”

“Oh my Lord! He even stroked her hair.. Kyaaa, he just said that she’s cute!”

Their dramatic reactions suddenly made Tokiya wondering about the way a boyfriend normally treats his girlfriend.

Are they such a cheapskate that they don’t even spend a penny for their girlfriend? Instead of stroking hair, do they kick their girlfriend if she looks cute? Maybe.. They reacted as if he is the only boyfriend in this universe who cossets his girlfriend.

“Do you want to try our limited edition couple shirts? We guarantee they will look great on cute couple like you guys! Please, just please give it a shot!”

Tokiya really wanted to refuse the salesgirl’s offer. He did not want any dramatic intruders anymore but seeing how Haruka naively nodded with sparkling eyes, he quickly gave in.

But what happened next was also absurd.

As soon as Tokiya and Haruka got out from the fitting room and had to bear countless squeaky voices of those nosy salesgirls, complimenting how endearing they were;

“It was the gift from our department. You can take it for free!” one of the salesgirls announced ecstatically, much to the couple’s puzzlement.

“What gift?” Tokiya asked. He could feel that he was this close to ask those girls to knock it off already.

“You are Tomoya-san, right? the boyfriend who only had two months to live because of a disease. The news circulated around just now and our manager asked us to just give the couple shirts as a cheer for you. He sent regards to you too.”

“WHAT!!??” this time, Tokiya could not resist himself from exploding with rage while Haruka…

“I am sorry, Tokiya-kun..” she muttered in guilt.

No wonder all those annoying salesgirls swooned over them!   

* * *

 

 **Tokiya** stared at Haruka. She was currently in a maiden mode who just got excited from the thought of feeding her boyfriend with the bento she made after exploding to a policeman like a maniac.

“Wait a second,” she suddenly stopped in whatever she was doing as she leaned closer to his face.

“Why?” he turned slightly panicky as she pulled down his scarf which covered his lower face before taking off his glasses. Not to mention that they were in public park where they had to be extra careful.

“Hm..” she pursed her lips as her fingers stroked his face. “Dark circles..” she stroked his dark circles softly. “Red eyes.. still lacking a rest I guess…” her attention turned to his eyelids as she stroked them as well. “A pale skin.. I guess I should find something that can make your skin look fresh again.”

She pulled away yet when Tokiya thought that was enough, she suddenly leaned it again but this time, she even cupped his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Despite of that, you still looked sooo handsome. As expected from my Tokiya-kun, my prince!” she pecked his cheek, caused the idol blushed crazily.

“Eh? What’s with that look, though?” Haruka pointed out as Tokiya glared at her. “Do you hate it when I called you a prince? Do you want me to call you my king instead?”

“No, thanks!” he retorted. “Instead, I wonder about this for a while but how come.. I mean.. how come you can just say out loud what do you think about me?”

“Because that’s what I always think about you though,” she scooped a spoon of yakisoba before feeding it to Tokiya.

“But in spite of that.. em, so delicious.. No, I mean.. How come you can say something cheesy like that boldly? As for me, it took me more than a week to prepare for my confession and..” he stopped again as another spoon of yakisoba was shoved into his mouth.

“How come, huh?” she pursed her lips as she pretended to think. “Maybe because my husband taught me how to be bold?”  

‘My husband’ or Tokiya suddenly chocked, much to Haruka’s amusement. That was bound to happen anyway. This Tokiya is the younger version of himself which meant he was totally a naïve when it comes to things like affection, unlike the Tokiya who was her husband.

“Tokiya-kun, are you okay? Drink this,” Haruka gave him a glass of mango juice.

“Thank you.. wait! Did you really mean that I was the one who..”

“Yeah, who else though?” she replied nonchalantly.

“Suddenly I feel hot. Just what did I do with my life, though?” he fanned himself while his face grew redder.

“Are you embarrassed, Tokiya-kun?” she gave him a playful smile.

“No. Just feel the need to isolate myself in an abandoned island,” he replied quickly as he did not have guts to meet her golden but mischievous orbs.

“Then, take me with you too!” she spread her arms childishly, expected him to carry her. “Oh my God, Ichinose Tokiya blushed again!”

“Stop it, Haruka!”

 “Look who is talking! Just so you know, the adult you is much more mischievous than me. He is the one who taught me how to be upfront like this!”

“Dear _Kami-sama,_ I don’t know why but suddenly, I want to become a baby again,” Tokiya murmured instantly, could not accept the fact that the adult Tokiya is himself.

“You are easily shy. How cute,” Haruka pinched his cheek, sending the blue head to shoot her with his infamous glare.

“Don’t even try that, Tokiya-kun. It doesn’t work on me. In fact, you just made me wanting to squeeze your cheek more.”

 _“Mattaku..”_ he breathed a heavy sigh. Never once in his life that he ever dreamed of being treated like a child because he was so used to act like an adult since he was twelve years old.

He was labeled as a Walking Ice with an intimidating glare. But now, in the eyes of his own girlfriend, he was no more than a cute child who could not even kill a fly.

Out of the blue, it was a serene silence as they fed each other until they emptied the lunch box. Then, they spent their times talking as apparently, taking a walk might cause an encounter with dramatic strangers again.     

Haruka’s eyes caught the sight of Tokiya’s exhausted eyes. Her small hand which had a habit of stroking Tokiya’s silky hair since they got married moved by itself, caressing his hair down to his chin.

 “Are you sleepy?”

“A bit.”

“Then, sleep here,” she patted her lap. “I promise you will fall asleep right away.”

“What? Did you just ask me to sleep on YOUR lap?” he pointed towards her pink skirt- covered lap, indirectly suggesting that she did not make any sense.

“Yes. The adult you used to sleep on my lap a lot when he couldn’t sleep.”

“Please stop with that adult me already! Geez.. Just how much do you want to tease me with..”

“No, honey. I am not teasing you. I swear,” as her tone suddenly changed into the lovely one, the one he loves the most, she melted his heart instantly. “You don’t look that good, Tokiya-kun. I don’t want you to be sick again. You must be healthy to strive for your dream.”

How beautiful, he exclaimed as her golden eyes stared softly at him.

“Well, if you insist..” Tokiya reluctantly lay on her lap. “But, what about you? If I am going to sleep..”

“It’s okay. While I become a soft pillow for you, I will write a new song instead.”

“A soft pillow? Such a confidence you have.”

After a few seconds…

“He fall asleep way faster than the adult him, though,” she muttered before pecking his forehead softly. _“Oyasumi.”_

She carefully pulled her handbag closer, not wanting to wake Tokiya up from his sleep. She took out a music sheet book and a pencil before composing a new song for STARISH.

* * *

 

 **“Waaa** , Haru-chan is so sweet!” Natsuki exclaimed as soon as Tokiya ended his story.

“Those salesgirls are really something,” Ren chuckled. “And the same goes with their manager.”

 “But seriously, how come you fell asleep when you guys were supposed to have a nice date?” Syo commented sarcastically. “What an ignorant bastard!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault! Her lap is so comfortable and if you guys don’t believe me, you guys can..” Tokiya immediately stopped before he dug his own grave because to be honest..

What an insane boyfriend he would be if he just allowed other guys slept on his girlfriend’s lap!

“We guys can.. what?” Otoya asked as he and his friends leaned in closer to Tokiya. It did not look like they would let it slide, though.

“Nothing.”

“Did you just say we also can sleep on Lady’s lap for free? Then I will..” Ren’s cheeky remark was cut short with Masato’s flying notebook which he reached conveniently from Tokiya’s desk.

“Thank you, Hijirikawa-san.. even you just threw my precious notebook,” Tokiya remarked.

“But how long did you sleep? What did Nanami do for the time being?” Otoya pointed out.

“Obviously she would write songs or just admiring her boyfriend’s sleeping face. This guy is unbelievably sly, though. He slept in class after disappearing from her sight for two weeks. He fainted and slept again when Haruka took care of him. And now he even slept while they were dating. All he did was sleeping but he still can make Haruka loves him,” Cecil commented sarcastically.

“Then, do you want to get punched again so that you will sleep and make some nice girls fall in love with you?”

“Guys, please don’t fight!” Natsuki pushed their shoulders as Cecil and Tokiya were this close to launch a vendetta. “Whatever it is, I think that Haru-chan becomes upfront like that because of you, Tokiya-kun.”

“Do you want to say that she happened to be bold like that because the adult me..”

“Yes but in a positive way,” when he noticed that Tokiya was about to deny, Masato quickly cut him short. “Listen, Ichinose. I did hear from my butler that a wife reflects her husband. Which means.. The adult you somehow changed Nanami in a better way.”

“What do you mean?”

“You changed her into a stronger person,” Syo curved in a chummy smile while patting Tokiya’s shoulder. “Nanami is used to be docile and passive, you know. She could not protect herself easily because she had a low self-esteem.”

“Kurusu is right, Ichinose,” Masato added. “Believe it or not, after she married you, your fans used to flame her, saying that she did not deserve you, she is just a composer and stuffs. She used to cry a lot because of that.”

“And she even asked you for a divorce because she did think that she did not deserve you,” Ren remarked, getting serious out of nowhere.

“What?”

“But of course you did not let her go. Instead, you comforted her while suing every single netizen who flamed her,” Cecil added. “From that moment, we could see that Haruka was somehow influenced by you.”

“And the next thing we knew, she turned into a completely intimidating girl to the point of if she is an anime character, people would say that she has become out of character,” Otoya added.

I guess she was not really happy to be my wife, huh? Tokiya slowly lost in his deep thought. While his friends were in their own world, quarrelling, talking and playing, he planned something for Haruka.         

* * *

 

 **“Here,”** Tokiya handed a bento to her girlfriend as they bumped into each other.

“What is this?” she held it curiously.

“It’s a bento, my dear,” Tokiya whispered the ‘dear’ word, rather softly. It was quite risky when you were in the ‘love is forbidden’ territory aka Saotome Academy.

“But why? I already made one for you. Why did you..”

“Then I will take it for the last time,” Tokiya took the green bento from her. “But next time, if I am free enough, I will make it for you.”

“But why?”

“It’s a ‘give and take’ concept, dear. All those things that you have done for the sake of me, the least I can do is something like this, right? Just accept it.”

But you already paid me with your life, though, she thought, rather sadly.

“Wait! What’s wrong with your knee?” he pointed towards her knee with a plaster on it, much to her panic.

“Well, I just tripped over a twig. That’s all,” she answered, nervously.

“Are you sure?” he twitched his eyebrows as he studied her face.

Oh my.. the Tokiya that I know is not gullible. He knows when I lie or so forth.

“Yes. You know how clumsy am I, right? I trip a lot,” she chuckled, still in nervousness.

But she could notice that Tokiya’s face expression suddenly turned grim.

“Then, please be careful and enjoy your meal. I have to leave first,” he patted her head before leaving her in daze.  

* * *

 

 **“So,** how do you feel?” Tomochika smirked as they were resting in their room. Obviously she did not need to give Haruka such a rhetorical question but to see the composer smiled so bright with her pinkish cheeks, it just amused her.

“I don’t know,” Haruka touched her cheeks before petting them softly. “I don’t know what to feel, Tomo-chan.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You returned to your past, you spent your time winning his heart and finally he confessed to you and proposed to date you. And now you are currently dating your late husband which is the chance that I bet all wives who lost their husbands yearn for it.”

“I know. What I meant was I am so happy to the point of I don’t know what to feel.”

“Oh my.. that’s complex. It’s like I understand you but I don’t think I understand you but whatever..” Tomochika gave up.

Haruka smiled sheepishly.“When we started dating, he is such a naïve in adorable way. He easily blushed when I flattered him. I really want to squeeze the cute cheeks..” she clenched her fists in admiration as she recalled Tokiya’s significant blushed face.

“You really want and you ended up really squeezing him, right?”

“Yeah,” Haruka smiled with a half-arsed apology on her face before getting excited again. “He always blushed because this is the first time he dated someone so he thought that I was being too bold with him. Sometimes, he made me feeling like nursing an obedient and cute five years old kid. Ahh, suddenly I miss our son,” she rubbed her stomach, sending Tomochika’s grin to fade away. “If our son is still alive, I am sure he’ll be just like his father. Hardworking, smart but cute.”

 Tomochika suddenly thought of something that bothered her mind since a few days ago which she quickly blurted out because she did not want Haruka to feel melancholic again. “Speaking of your knee, did he say anything after that?”

“No. He just asked me to be careful. Why?”

“Well..To tell you the truth, Ichinose-san already knew about the girls who pushed you.”

“What!?” the rosette was shocked. “Like for real? How did he know?”

“He asked me. I don’t know it will happen like this.”

“Then when he asked me, did he mean.. He just wanted to know either I was lying or not?”

“I guess,” Tomochika agreed, reluctantly.

“Oh my..”

So, that night, Haruka called him, apologizing.

“I am sorry.”

“For what?” his voice sounded confused. Haruka could hear Otoya and Cecil were singing rubbish in the background.

“Tomo-chan told me that you already knew about my knee injury. I am sorry for lying.”

It was a short silence before…

“No need to be sorry, though. In fact, it’s your knee, right? Not mine. I don’t lose anything if you ended up losing your whole legs or other parts of your body. In fact, I can ask the girl who pushed you to go out with me instead. How’s that sound?”

Oh my.. he is mad. He sounded cold all of sudden.

“Tokiya-kun..”

“What?”

“I am sorry but I think everything is still under control. You don’t have to..”

“Woww, my girlfriend said it is STILL under control,” he repeated, rather sarcastically. “Then, do you want to wait for them to do something out of control to you then only you will inform me, Nanami Haruka?”

“Tokiya-kun..”

“Look. I am not trying to be over protective or something but the moment the guys said that you used to be flamed by my fans for being my wife.. I don’t think I can just watch without doing anything. I need to do something for you.”

“Those guys said that to you?”

“Yeah, THANK GOD, they told me! And also Shibuya-san.. she told me about those bullying that you encountered all this time when SOMEONE just told me that everything is still under control,” Tokiya’s soft voice got louder. She knows, he just wanted to make her feeling guilty. “Or else, I would spend the rest of my life innocently, thinking that all this time, marrying the adult me is the best thing that ever happened in your life.”

“Of course it’s the best thing ever! Do you think I wasn’t happy with our marriage?” she retorted. She knew Tokiya did not mean it but it hurt her when he just made such assumption.

“But you used to ask for a divorce because somehow you were so stressed out and started to believe that you didn’t deserve me, right?”

This time, he completely shut her up. Or to put it correctly..

She just gave up convincing him.

“I love you, Haruka.”

Tokiya’s voice suddenly turned softer and not only Haruka, anybody who listened to him could tell just how sincere it sounded.

Too sincere, enough for the composer to drop her tears.    

“You know what it means when I say that I love you? I don’t want you to feel painful because of me. But, if you still do, please rely on me as much as you want until you no longer feel the pain. I don’t want you to bear the pain all by yourself. That’s enough, Haruka.”

Haruka wiped her tears but more drops streaming her soft cheeks.

“The girl who cheered me up when I felt like I wanted to give up being Hayato.. The girl who always saved me when I was struggling by myself.. The girl who took such a good care for me… and..” his voice trembled, much to her shock. “The girl who said that she loves me and she sees me as the blessing for her life.. I want to protect her at all costs. Is that too much to ask?”

This time, she cried again while Tokiya just stayed silent, giving her a chance to calm herself down. If it was not because of some circumstance, he would see and embrace her.

“I love you, Tokiya-kun.”

“I know.”

“Can I meet you tonight? All of sudden, I really want to hug you..”

“I am sorry but I have to refuse.”

“Why?” She was dumbfounded with the sudden rejection and slight coldness in his voice.

“I really wish we can but if we meet, I am afraid there are cockroaches who will eavesdrop on us.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Wait a second,” she could hear a screeching sound from a chair, suggesting that Tokiya was standing up from his chair before, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING, HUH!!? IS EAVESDROPPING YOUR HOBBY NOW!? OI, COME BACK HERE!”

“Oh my God, he found out!” Haruka could hear Otoya exclaimed in panic.

“Let’s save ourselves before Tokiya kills us!” Cecil encouraged, followed by heavy sounds which Haruka could assume that they were running away from Tokiya.

“ _Mattaku.._ I will make sure Otoya will sleep outside tonight. Such a nosy parker,” Tokiya’s blabbers gained himself chuckles from Haruka. “Sorry, Haruka. Those children were just eavesdropping on us but heck! How the hell did I forget that they were HERE in our room?? I was so emotional just now and.. gahhh!” Tokiya let out a frustrated and embarrassed cry, much to the rosette’s amusement.

Tokiya with his cuteness…

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 17! Tokiya started to be upfront as well so you can expect some developments from him. After this, you can expect him to take action like a hero instead of being level-headed all the time since yeah, a guy like him normally would be dangerous once you made him snapped. Feel free to let me know what you think about this chapter! Sayonara!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> STARISH with their absurdity and Tokiya with his Hayato-mode..

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**In** a peaceful evening, a surprise crashed the whole male students’ dorms like a thunder.

Since they shared the same kitchen to prepare their meals, they all were so used to bump into each other to the point of all of them knew STARISH members’ cooking habits.

Syo and Otoya were typical school boys who enjoyed eating normal foods so they always ended up eating together with other students, chatting so loud and you could see why they always ended up going late to school.

Natsuki and Cecil were supposed to emit a chummy aura like Otoya and Syo if it was not because of Natsuki’s mad cooking and Cecil’s weird talk about Muse and magic. Nobody would dare to approach the kitchen once they could sense Natsuki’s dangerous presence. Ironically enough, the used-to-be-cold Tokiya was the one who always ended up helping Natsuki with his cooking after the stove exploded mysteriously.

Meanwhile, Masato and Ren are like a pair of unsolved cases. As a scion, they have numerous servants at house so it made senses for everyone if they thought that those two childhood friends could not cook to save their life. But what happened was polar opposite. They are insanely good at cooking and the best cook in STARISH.

While Tokiya, previously, he always emitted an ominous and purplish aura even when in fact, he just cooked vegetables or anything healthy to eat with a poker face.

But not in that evening. Everyone was utterly in shock when they bumped into him in the kitchen. Ichinose Tokiya who would shed tears only when Hyuga sensei assigned him to act in a tragic play as his assignment was currently crying like a weed.

Of course nobody dared enough to ask what on earth was wrong with him. The most caring thing they could do was informing Otoya so that the red head would be the one who comfort his best friend.  

But when Otoya quickly rushed off to the kitchen...

“Tokiya, look at you! You look like a..” Otoya’s words were cut short when he saw his roommate was stirring a big pot of curry. Obviously, Tokiya did not cook for himself like always because apart from the amount itself was too much, Otoya knows how Tokiya hates curry which is ironically Otoya’s favourite food. 

“Tokiya, what are you doing?”

“I am cooking,” Tokiya answered while sniffing loudly.

“But, why are you crying?”

“I am not crying!” He raised his voice, emphasizing the fact.“It’s just that... these onions killed my eyes. It stung!”

Otoya deadpanned.

That’s it? Onions stung his eyes!? What the heck!? Those guys should directly ask Tokiya instead of asking me to see Tokiya by myself. This freaking blue head... I am worried about nothing!

“How come STARISH members love curry so much when in fact, it contains high calories and not to mention these freaking onions..”

“Wait, Tokiya! What are you doing? Calm the hell down!” Otoya restrained Tokiya’s hand from chopping the unused onions right in front of him into ugly shapes. “Please don’t let it out on the innocent onions but... did you just say.. STARISH? By chance, are you cooking for us?”

Otoya knew he just hit the nail on the head as he could see the blushed face of Tokiya.

“Well, Haruka said that the feeling of making everyone smiles is indescribable so she says, I should try it for you guys... wait, Otoya! Don’t feel touched yet. I still don’t know either my curry will be delicious or not.”

It was even mortifying for him to admit that he even met Haruka this morning to ask her for a curry recipe which all STARISH members love to eat.

“It’s okay! What matters the most is you want to cook for us. That’s so sweet of you, Tokiya!” the red eyes looked at Tokiya in admiration and Tokiya could swear that he just saw some weird sparkles from the red eyes. “I must tell everyone...”

“What!? Don’t!”

“Eh? Whyy?”

“Don’t ask.”

“Could it be.. you want it to be a surprise for everyone?”

Again, the red head hit the nail on the head as Tokiya suddenly collapsed like a jelly out of shock. An exaggerated reaction that you can only find in anime. 

Just how many Haruka around him for crying out loud? Dealing with her who could read him like an open book was mortifying enough, let alone Otoya who he was so cold with.

“No. Now, shut up and let me finish cooking,” Tokiya finally managed to stand after collapsing dramatically a few seconds ago.

“You want me to lend a hand?”

“No, thanks.”

“Why not?? You are mean, Tokiya!”

“I am mean because you are being annoying.”

_“Mou...”_

A few minutes passed....

“Tokiya, you are such an eyesore right now! Just let me help you...” Otoya could not stand the sight of Tokiya stirred the meat in the pot while still shedding tears out of sting but his words were cut by a sudden appearance of a shiny knife right in front of his eyes.

“Don’t. Touch. Anything,” his blue eyes looked intimidating as the aura of foreboding suddenly emitted from his body.

“You are so stubborn, Tokiya! Like a mule!” Otoya was utterly frustrated with Tokiya’s sickening perfectionism. The blue head was way too persistent with his intention to cook it by himself because apparently, it would make the curry special even not in seven hells he wold admit it.  

“Hey, don’t lump me with that animal! Geez, you just won’t shut up, won’t you!? Take this!” Tokiya shoved a spoon of curry into his roommate’s mouth.

It was a short silence as Otoya chewed slowly with his roommate observed him in anticipation.

“How’s it?”

“It’s..” Otoya found it hard to describe the taste of his roommate’s curry with words because to be honest...

It’s tasteless!!! What do you think you are doing, Tokiya!!? Otoya really wanted to shout of dejection. As a hard-core fan of Japanese curry, he has tried different curries in different places but so far, Tokiya’s cooking is the most disappointing ever.

But, from the way Tokiya stared at him so intently, the red head knew his roommate could not accept any pejorative answer from him.

“It’s good,” Otoya forced a smile.

“It’s tasteless,” Tokiya deadpanned.

A few seconds passed without any single word coming from them. Otoya’s mind just registered the fact that Tokiya himself said that the curry was tasteless, in unison with his polar opposite comment.

“Huh?”

“It’s. Tasteless,” with a poker face, Tokiya added more curry powder into the pot, much to the red head’s shock. “God, Otoya. I did not put enough curry powder yet and you still think it is tasty!? What’s wrong with your taste bud!?”

“Hey, that wasn’t my fault! You should stop the glare already, Tokiya! You looked like you would stab me if I didn’t say something good about your curry!”

Again, a silence. For some reasons, because of a curry alone, it made them speechless for many times.

“Otoya, are you perhaps... are you afraid with me?”

“You just realized that now!?” Otoya shouted spontaneously, sending the blue head flinched. “Geez... you should know from the start how intimidating you are, Tokiya. Everybody keeps saying that your voice is beautiful even when you acted cold but for me, once you get angry, you look like you will commit a massacre. Honestly, your voice doesn’t suit your brutal personality.”

“That’s why I try to make up for all those things that you told me..” with the single line, it managed to make Otoya quiet out of guilt.

Damn! Me and my big mouth!

Suddenly, the kitchen emitted an awkward aura, much to Otoya’s restlessness.

“You should go back to the room. It will take a while for me to finish cooking,” the calmness from Tokiya’s voice sounded creepier than usual.

“Okay!” Otoya was glad that he had a solid reason to leave the kitchen. So, he left Tokiya like greased lightning.

* * *

 

**“It’s** tasty, Ichinose!” A single comment from Masato just made the blue head let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s so yummy!!” Syo and Cecil shouted in unison.

“Oi, Tokiya! Why is my curry so tasteless!?” Otoya shouted to the blue head. At this rate, a tasteless curry would be a new fear for the red head.

“Ehhhh? I thought that you like it tasteless? Did you just say it’s good for it to be tasteless?” Tokiya deadpanned but for Otoya, it was the most insulting face expression that he ever gained.

“You are so mean, Tokiya!”

“Because you are being annoying!”

“Those two sure have a weird chemistry, right?” Ren commented while stirred the hot curry. He just felt entertained to see Tokiya and Otoya bickered and started listing each others’ bad habits in their room.

“Yes. Just like in the future, they always squabble but when they are in tough situation, they end up finding each other for a comfort,” Natsuki responded, bubbly.

“Speaking about the future...” Tokiya managed to attract their attention while pushing Otoya’s face away so that the red head would not yell at him anymore. “Can you guys tell me about what happened.. I mean, everything about how STARISH was supposed to be founded... what happened after we debuted and so on..”

Expectedly, the six of them smiled chummily. Tokiya could somehow guess that they were generating their own clouds of flashbacks.

“Well, long story short, Lady is the one who founded STARISH since she thought that our voices would create a wonderful melody,” Ren responded.

 “How did you guys meet her?”

“I met her during the entrance exam.. she was late and the security guards did not want to allow her to sit for the exam so I kinda helped her to convince them. Then, during entrance ceremony, we found out that we are in the same class and since then, I got closer with her. I was in lo.. No, I mean, I was impressed with her talent and determination.. Not to mention, she has a very great personality, ” Otoya continued, followed by a nod from Ren.

“She was late because she helped a lost child so I also joined Ikki helping her. But the reason why I chose Lady to be my partner because she saved me afterward. I was in a state of rebellion because of my family to the point of I was almost expelled from this academy. She complimented my singing and convinced me to continue my studies here. You know what? I ripped my lyrics and I believe the wind had blew them far away but somehow Lady could find them. Our Nanami Haruka is awesome, right?”

“Yeah,” Tokiya smiled awkwardly. Well, he did think that Haruka is awesome but after the ‘Haruka-suddenly-barged-in-on-his-life-and-knew-everything-about-him’ saga, he did not think ‘the-lyrics-searching’ part is surprising. “What about you, Shinomiya-san?”

“Well, I like her because she is cute like my dog, Elizabeth. Furthermore, I think that Haru-chan is the only one who can accept me for who I am.”

 “I see..” honestly, it never crossed Tokiya’s mind that a cheerful and good-natured Natsuki would suffer a split personality disorder.

“How about you, Syo?”

“Eh, me? I think my reason is the same like Natsuki’s. Nanami understands how I really want to become Hyuga sensei. How I idolize him since she is Hayato’s fan. Moreover, that girl is clumsy. She always asked for trouble so I really wanted to protect her at that time.”

“Not to mention that you also love her,” Tokiya mumbled but only Natsuki which is just right beside him could hear him.

“What are you mumbling, Tokiya?”

“Nothing, Syo,” suddenly, Tokiya’s blue eyes averted towards another blue eyes. “I am curious about Hijirikawa-san though...”

“Eh, why me all of sudden?” Masato’s eyes widened in horror.

“I don’t know. I am just curious.”

“Haruka used to have problem when playing piano because her hands would not move out of anxiety. Moreover, other students made fun of her since she could not read music at that time. That’s why Masato helped her,” Cecil suddenly interrupted and had fun telling Tokiya about Masato.

“That’s very nice of you, Hijirikawa-san,” Tokiya smiled chummily.

“Nah, nothing mu.. Wait, Aijima! You were definitely everywhere, right!?”

“Such a creep,” Tokiya clicked his tongue towards as he gave the prince an insulting look. “I think I don’t even need to ask this Kuppuru boy about his history. He definitely would start flapping his gums about Muse, black cat and how he also really wanted to turn Haruka into a black cat like him so that they could produce more black cats..”    

“That makes sense, Ichinose. I agree with you,. This guy should be a black cat forever and being treated worse than a stray cat,” both blue heads suddenly radiated a bully aura, much to Cecil’s panic and others’ amusement.

“That’s mean, Tokiya, Masato! I like Haruka because of her music. Her music saved me from the curse!”

“Then, what happened next?” Tokiya turned to others, seeking for the next story, followed by Masato. They totally ignored Cecil.

“Then we started to gain popularity since every single of our solo project were top-notch. Syo-chan was casted in Prince of Fighting with Hyuga sensei (Tokiya’s blue eyes widened out of amazement because every single soul in this school knows just how fanatical Syo can be when it comes to Hyuga sensei), Masato-kun succeeded a role in a famous theater and you, Tokiya-kun.. you appeared in an advertisement to promote STARISH by singing Crystal Time,” Natsuki replied.

“Speaking of Crystal Time, do you guys remember that it was the same day when we were supposed to watch the fireworks together with Nanami?” Otoya suddenly brought up the question that never met an answer.

It was all because the late Tokiya’s secretive and crafty personality especially when it comes to his feeling to Haruka.

“Hm? What’s wrong with that?” Tokiya blinked questioningly as he could somehow guess that this watching-the-fireworks-thingy is one of important events for STARISH, considering their current facial expression.

“Yeah, I remember that! Tokiya, at that time, you said that you wanted to invite her to watch fireworks but for some reasons, you guys arrived late. Where the hell did you bring her to when the rest of us waited for you like morons!? For heaven’s sake, answer me, Tokiya!” As ridiculous as he got, Syo suddenly grabbed the collar of Tokiya’s shirt before shaking it vigorously. To make it worse for the innocent and current Tokiya, Masato, Cecil and Otoya also started surrounded him with an ‘I’ll kill you’ look.

“Wait, where did that come from? How am I supposed to know!?” Tokiya cried, pleading for a mercy.

“You better tell us now, Ichinose..” Masato gave him a death glare. Something he would never expect from his ‘twin’.

“Wait, Hijirikawa-san.. You too?” Tokiya felt a sudden betrayal since Masato was on his side a few minutes ago.

“Serves you right, Tokiya. Even your so-called twin also can betray you whenever he feels like it..” Cecil smirked as he felt a sudden satisfaction.

“You guys should rephrase your words so that Icchi will understand,” Ren sighed, suggesting that those four souls were being absurd. “Obviously he has no idea what the heck are you guys talking about.”

“Tokiya-kun, what they meant was if let’s say that you are the late Tokiya.. if Haru-chan was so stressed out about the songs for Utapri award, if she became restless because she was afraid that STARISH would be disbanded, what would you do to cheer her up?”

“Well...” Tokiya averted his gaze to somewhere else as he tried to come up with an answer. “I will ask her for a date and listen to her concerns,” he answered them as he felt bad for them to wait for him.

Or to be exact, the late Tokiya.

“Saw that coming. No wonder Icchi refused to answer it till the end,” Ren smirked. From the start, he had this hunch that there was something happened between Tokiya and Haruka on that festival day.

“Wait! All this time, you hadn’t ask him about this and now, you interrogated me, the sudden victim?”

“Well, most of the time, I would be asked by them to ask Tokiya about this but.. you know yourself, don’t you? Either you ignored me or glaring at me so that I would stop talking, just choose one already,” it was Otoya’s turn to give his roommate a death glare and for the first time in his life, Tokiya felt that Otoya could be intimidating.

“Enough with that look, Otoya!”

* * *

 

**After** they finally settled down and continued with the story which ended with the night when the late Tokiya died..

“Well, did you find out who is the killer?” Tokiya asked slowly, referring to the late Tokiya’s murderer.

“No.. not yet..” Otoya replied in dismay.

“He just vanished off the face of the earth,” Syo continued with the same face expression like the red head.

“The bastard wore a mask. Furthermore, both Tokiya and Haruka were injured badly so they had hard time to focus on the details of the culprit,” Cecil added.

“But, from the way Lady told us, we concluded that the culprit aimed to kidnap Lady but since Icchi insisted to protect her, the guy killed him instead,” even Ren looked calm but his deep voice told otherwise.

“That’s why Nanami suffered more than you can imagine. She put the blame on her since the late Ichinose protected her until his last breath,” Masato continued as the pain of seeing Haruka suffered suddenly came to him again. 

Suddenly, the room which was so chaotic since an hour ago turned silent.

“I think.. that’s enough for melancholy already. We are supposed to have fun, right? Come on Cesshi! Take out that thing!” Ren deliberately made his voice louder as an attempt to change the atmosphere. He smacked the prince’s back, much to Cecil’s slight annoyance.

“That thing!? Are you sure?”

“Yes, 100 percents!”

“Oi, Jinguji! What the hell are you plotting now, huh?” Masato suddenly got angry which automatically gave a sign to the others that Ren has planned something absurd again.

“Come on, Hijirikawa. Don’t be such a party pooper. I promise it will be fun.”

“When it comes to your idea, it always ended up with something absurd and stupid!”

“I’ve noticed this for a while but.. is Hijirikawa-san not collected like how everybody sees him?” Tokiya asked, particularly to Syo who was just next to him.

“Yeah, only when it involves Ren because you know.. he can read Ren like an open book and Ren always doesn’t make any sense..”

 “Are you frigging kidding me!!?” their conversation was suddenly interrupted by Masato’s shout and when they paid their attention to them, Cecil already held a large bottle of orange liquid while Masato strangled the smiling Ren. “This junk has made me cross-dressed out of my will and you expect me to join you again!?”

“Hey, don’t call my precious drink a junk!” Cecil crossed arms out of dissatisfaction.

“Chillax, Hijirikawa. I just want to introduce some of our weird games to Icchi. Hey, Icchi! Do you see the drink over here?” Ren pointed towards the drink in Cecil’s arm. “This drink is a magical water from Agnapolis. It was used by children in the country so that they can have fun with their friends.”

“Magical what?” for some reasons, Tokiya found that the word ‘magic’ is a taboo, thanks to Cecil and his Kuppuru side.

“We will form a circle and take our turn to drink the water. Then, we will act like the opposite of us and that’s when we will play Truth and Dare. Since we are in the water’s influence, we won’t feel embarrassed to do anything. For example, like this guy..” Otoya pointed towards Syo who immediately turned pale. “He is all about manly, tough and cliff, right? But, when we played this kind of Truth or Dare, he suddenly acted cute and even hugged Natsuki’s Piyo-chan doll for the whole night.”

“Shut up, Otoya!”

“Well, that was weird, considering it coming from you, Syo.”

“Tskk, not you too, Tokiya!”

“So, Icchi... are you in?” Ren’s smirk just meant one thing.

‘If you are brave/manly enough, you should join us.’

Well, why not? Even though STARISH consists of weird members but he still believes in them.

At least, they did not have any intention to kill him.

* * *

 

**“Haru** -chan! Haru-chan!” From distance, Haruka could see how happy and....

Out of character? Obviously because the cool and charismatic Tokiya suddenly turned all bubbly, waving to her while grinning like...

Hayato? _Oha-yahho?_ Plus, he called her ‘Haru-chan’ instead of ‘Haruka’.

Just now, she got a call from Tokiya, saying that he wanted to meet her at their secret rendezvous for no reasons.  

“Tokiya-kun, what’s wrong? Why did you call me all of sudden...” her words were cut by Tokiya’s sudden embrace around her petite frame, making her blushed.

“Haru-chan, where have you been? I miss you so much!”

“You.. you miss me?” her pink lips formed a wide smile out of delight. “But we just met this morning..”

“But I want to see you every second, every minute, Haru-chan... It’s sooooo wonderful to have you around.”

It should not be surprising for her to see Tokiya blurted out some cheesy lines like that since Tokiya is the type of guy who did have romantic side but the fact that he talked with a high-pitched voice like Hayato, grinning stupidly... she knows that acting like Hayato in his normal days is like a taboo for Tokiya unless... 

“Hehe.. Thank you,” nevertheless, Haruka still did not forget to be flattered. “But Tokiya-kun, you don’t act like your usual self. Could it be..” her eyes widened as she pulled away and finally could see his red face. “You look as pissed as newt! What did you drink, Tokiya-kun? Tell me!”

“Eh? Beats me...” Tokiya rubbed his chin, seemingly deep(?) in thought but instead of looking smart and cool like the usual him, he looked more like a moron. “I think I have drunk something.. Aijima-san gave me a glass of.. I don’t know.. it tastes aweful but I remember I only took a few sips..”

Aijima Cecil! She would make sure that she would scold him for giving a weird drink that most probably from his country to Tokiya. Well, Tokiya used to act like Hayato when he had fever since he could not think properly so it did make sense for him to act the same way when he was drunken.

“Does your head feel like spinning right now? Here, how many fingers?”

“It’s one, two... six?” he asked back, innocently.

Oh my... he sure is so drunken to mistake two for six, Haruka mentally faceplamed but as she was confused about what to do with Tokiya, she was startled with a sudden and second embrace.

“Tonight, I am soooo veryyyyy extremelyyy happy. I cooked something for everyone since Haru-chan said that to make everyone smiles is the best thing ever. They all said it tastes good. Ah, Haru-chan, have you eaten it? Does it taste good?” His blue eyes met Haruka’s in anticipation.

“Yes. It’s such a great job, Tokiya-kun. Tomo-chan and Maaya-chan also enjoyed the meal,” Haruka could not help but chuckling at his cuteness and excitement. She continued stroking his blue hair, allowing him to continue talking.

“Is that so, Haru-chan? I am sooo happy to hear that,” his blue orbs which reflected light from the moon turned sparkling, made him three times more striking than usual if it was not because of his moronic grin. “To make Haru-chan eats a delicious meal is my priority because after all... Haru-chan is important to me.”

“Me? Am I important to you?”

The idol automatically nodded while staring admiringly at her. 

“Yes, I can’t live without seeing Haru-chan every day. Haru-chan is so amazing! You are sooo amazing until I feel that I grow to love you more and more every day. You are the most amazing girl I have ever met. I understand why the late Tokiya protected you. If I were him, I would do the same thing. I would protect Haru-chan even my body would turn into pieces. I must be the luckiest guy in this world because..” Haruka’s over happiness as she listened to his bold confession was cut short when she saw the look in his eyes.

It suddenly turned into a dismay.

Not to mention he suddenly mentioned about protecting her even his body would be smashed into pieces....

 “Out of seven people who love you, you chose me. I can see that... No, some of them already moved on and started loving another girl but I know they all used to love you so much... It makes me wonder why did you choose me, though..”

“Well, it’s because..” she smiled lovingly at him while her delicate hand still caressed his hair. “Do we still need a reason to love someone? I love everything about you and that only matters. My heart chooses you and I believe in my heart, Tokiya-kun.”

“But.. don’t you realize that they all have their own charms? Ren, Syo, Otoya.. every single of them... but me..” Tokiya obviously felt that he was nothing compared to his friends.

“Tokiya-kun...”

“Haru-chan, please forgive me, okay? I am a boring person. I don’t know jokes, I don’t know how to make you laugh.. Not to mention, I don’t have enough time for us to spend more and more time together.. I will leave you first..”

“Tokiya-kun, please don’t say something like that,” the tears quickly welled up in her eyes as she knew where this confession was going.

 “I only have twelve years to spend with you, with everyone... Yes, I still have a chance to spend time with the guys but I feel so sorry for Haru-chan. Haru-chan will be my wife.. Haru-chan will be there beside me for the rest of my life.. Haru-chan will be the mother of my children.. I want to see my children growing up and have kids as well... But I guess.. when we have grandchildren, only Haru-chan can see them, right? I will no longer be there beside Haru-chan...”

“Tokiya-kun, please..” She pulled him into her embrace. Her tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She never knew that Tokiya could think something like that.

“You know what, Haru-chan? I was thinking, it’s better if Haru-chan gets married with someone else. Anyone but me...” as he pulled away from her embrace before smiling with the thought of Haruka would end up with someone else, it just broke her heart more. “If someday, Haru-chan finds a good guy, please tell me, okay? If Haru-chan loves him, just inform me so that we can break off nicely. Don’t worry about me. Instead, I want to see Haru-chan be happy with him before I leave Haru-chan..”

“What do you mean?” the golden eyes widened in horror. That was the line that she would never wanted to hear, especially from Tokiya’s own mouth. To be in a relationship with him sooner than she expected was like a triumph for her and she did not want anything else for her life. “Why would I love someone else?”

“It’s because I will leave Haru-chan..” Tokiya muttered out of guilt.

 “Tokiya-kun, look at me,” she cupped his face, making sure that his gaze would not avert to somewhere else except to her. “I love you and I want to continue with this relationship even you cannot always there beside me. I have learned about the fact since the beginning and I am ready mentally and physically for it.”

“But Haru-chan will..”

She kissed both his cheeks softly, making him speechless.

“I love you, Tokiya-kun. Is that enough? I want and I am going to be your wife. That’s my promise.”

Slowly, a relieved smile crept over his face before he rested his head on her shoulder.

“I love Haru-chan too... it’s so good to hear that Haru-chan loves me...” he closed his eyes, remained silent and Haruka could feel that his body slowly became heavier against her.

“Tokiya-kun?” she patted his back but gaining herself no responses from the blue head.

“Is he sleeping?” she glanced at her shoulder and the soft snore from him answered her all.

Gradually, the warmness that she could feel only when her lover is around hit her again. She would ask the guys to take Tokiya to the dorm for sure but for now...

She wanted to embrace him as long as she could.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for CHAPTER 18! The idea for the curry-cooking scene is actually based on a fanfiction that I have read. I don't remember the title but thanks to the author because that scene inspired me to write the intro for this chapter.
> 
> So, do you like it? Please let me know what do you think. Sayonara!


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hayato's fan meeting in Saotome Academy..

CREDIT TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA and SILVERMOON249 (for Nanairo no Compass lyric)

**CHAPTER 19**

**“Are** you serious!?” the blue eyes which always looked calm suddenly and widely opened, sending Haruka to laugh out of amusement even she could presume his reaction when he learned that last night, he was not merely drunk but he transformed into Hayato because of Cecil’s weird but _precious_ drink. 

“Yes,” she grinned childishly which ‘hurted’ his pride more as the thought of his girlfriend already saw many different sides of him crossed his mind. She saw him getting melancholic in the rain because of his mother, crying like a baby in her arms, acting like a maiden who suddenly got excited about cooking curry to her boyfriend...

How come this girl even loves a lame and cheesy guy like him? It’s crying shame!

“It’s okay, Tokiya-kun. You look even cuter when you say that..”

“Aaaaaaa! Cannot hear that, don’t want to hear that,” since Tokiya was so desperate to forget about whatever ‘cute things’ he did last night, he closed his ears while making noise in order to stop her from talking any further.

Haruka laughed cheerfully before stopping herself abruptly. She could hear some annoying whispers from the girls not far from them. Obviously, they looked jealouse as she was the only one who could become that close with the ex-Ice Prince right in front of her.

Especially the trio in her class.

Decided that they did not even worth her time, she ignored them and continued teasing Tokiya, only making them more irritated.

He’s mine, you desperate chicks!

“You even said that I am important to you. Making me a yummy dish is your priority...” she decided to tell him every single cheesy line that he blurted out last night, save for the ‘Haru-chan, let’s break off’ part. She was so afraid if Tokiya would bring it up again and eventually leave her.

 “Stop, Haruka! Stop!” he dramatically raised his big hand right in front of her face while his creamy-skinned face blushed more as he imagined any stupid lines that Hayato would blurt out to Haruka. “After this, please don’t talk or make eye contact with me for a while. I need some time to make my embarrassement disappear.”

“Ehhh??”

Which later he learned that _Kami-sama_ did not always grant his wish.

* * *

 

 **“For** this upcoming event, our school will organize a fan meeting with an idol. You guys are required to choose which idol you want to meet but please bear in your mind that this fan meeting is not only for fun. After the event, you are given a week to write a report about what do you learn from the fan meeting. It can be the content of the activities, how the idol entertains his fans.. Anything can do. Now, please write down which idol do you want to invite to our school.”

Unexpectedly, the announcement from their homeroom teachers turned out to be a nightmare to Tokiya who would rather die than having to act as Hayato right in front of Haruka after the embarrassing night.

Especially when he saw the list of the top voted idols on the notice board a few days later.

Currently leading idol

  1. HAYATO
  2. Sawatari Kyoko
  3. Helena
  4. Suruga Shuu



* * *

 

 **“Just** who the hell voted for that dude??” Tokiya murmured in chagrin while his eyes glared at certain red head for some reasons.

“The DUDE is you, though,” Cecil rolled his eyes while wondering just why the heck he was here in Tokiya’s room. The blue head just ordered him to drop by but so far, all he and Otoya did were listening to Tokiya’s useless complaints regarding to the vote…

Which apparently, Tokiya did not think so.

“Yeah, but the DUDE is there, being the top one in the list because he was voted and when I said ‘he was voted’ which is obviously in passive voice, SOMEONE which is the subject of the sentence has voted for him..” Tokiya’s blue eyes turned piercing as soon as he glared at Otoya, much to the red head’s fright.

“Why are you looking at me that way?” Otoya stammered.

“Am I not allowed to stare at my roommate right now? It’s called an affection, honey,” his voice suddenly turned slower but it just crept both Otoya and Cecil out.

“Affection, my foot,” Cecil muttered.

“Said someone who is the reason why I turned into Hayato last night,” Tokiya sized his eyes up as soon as he averted his glare to Cecil who immediately shrank. “Because of you, right now, there is certain person who also most probably voted for the DUDE but unlike you, I feel bad to scold the certain person..”

“Are you talking about me? Am I that person?” Otoya asked cheerfully which he later regretted it.

“Bingo. You voted for Hayato,” Tokiya deadpanned.

“Shucks!” Otoya exclaimed while mentally facepalmed for being off his guard.

 _“Baka,”_ Cecil murmured to Otoya.

“Ittoki Otoya, you will sleep outside tonight. That’s the verdict,” Tokiya sounded like a dictator who just punished a criminal.

“What?? Did I just commit a crime or what?”

“Yes, you did. And if that DUDE is chosen, you guys better run for your life if you still wish to breathe oxygen,” Tokiya threw a sincere threat.

“Tsk, such a lame threat. Do you think we are afraid with you, Mr. Cat Lover?” Cecil sneered.

Suddenly, they could hear someone running so fast along the corridor before..

“Hey, Tokiya!” without ever bothering to pound at the door first, Natsuki and Syo just slammed it open, sending Otoya and Cecil to jump from their spots.

“Where is your manner, guys? This room has a door, you know,” Tokiya sighed in frustration for nth time. Natsuki was too easy-going while Syo perceived himself as too manly to knock on the door first. What a pair of roommates from heaven!

“The hell with the manner! We have something to tell you, Tokiya. This is very, very important,” Syo exclaimed while still gasping for oxygen.

“What’s so important to the point of you cannot even knock on the door at least?”

“The result for the idol fan meeting.. It’s already finalized!” Syo exclaimed. “I mean not officially but just now, I just eavesdropped on Ringo sensei and Hyuga sensei’s conversation and guess what? They already know who is the chosen idol.”

“And that ‘who’ is?” Tokiya asked impatiently while grabbing a thick book on his desk.

“You, Hayato-kun. You got two votes more than Sawatari-san,” Natsuki pointed out excitedly, sending the blue head to rise from his chair with a rolled book in his hand, preparing to attack Cecil and Otoya. The next thing he knew was Otoya and Cecil who were original fans and voters of Hayato already disappeared from his sight.

Two votes more… If only those dorks did not vote for Hayato…

“Wait, Tokiya-kun.. Why are they running away?” Natsuki asked, innocently.

“Because they still want to breathe oxygen,” Tokiya answered before turning his attention to Syo, ignoring the confused Natsuki. “But are you serious? If you want to be funny here..”

“We are not trying to be funny. We just told you the truth!” Syo insisted.  

“Just so you know, your sense of humour is still weak. You need to brush up..”

“I said it’s the truth, you dumbass!” this time Syo let out an earth-shaking scream. “Hayato will come to this school next week.”

“Oh, _Kami-sama_..”

All of sudden, Tokiya received a call from Haruka.

“Syo, did you tell Haruka..”

“Yes, I did. I bet she will be the one who is the most excited, though..” Syo said nonchalantly but Tokiya knew him long enough to tell that the small boy was mocking him.

“You jerk..”

“Well, let’s hear her reaction together, shall we?” Natsuki activated his nosy mode as he snatched the phone from Tokiya.

“Shinomiya-san, what are you doing?”

Natsuki turned on the loudspeaker as soon as he accepted the call.

“Hello, Tokiya-kun!”

“Hellooo!!” before Tokiya could open his mouth, Natsuki and Syo answered excitedly as they formed a circle around Tokiya’s purple cell phone.

These scumbags…

“ _Ara, minnasan?_ Are you turning on the speaker?”

“Yes, Haruka. Shinomiya-san turned it on,” Tokiya answered weakly.

“Oh, is that so? Then, do you guys already know about the idol fan meeting?”

“Yeahhhh!! We are sooo excited to see Hayato right in front of our eyes!” Natsuki and Syo shouted in unison. As if they already revised a script or something.

“Oh, we all are in the same boat! I am also happy to see Hayato-sama!” Haruka remarked excitedly.

“Figures,” Tokiya commented flatly.

Then, it turned into an awkward silence.

“Tokiya-kun..”

“Yes?”

“To tell you the truth, I am one of the..”

“You are one of the students who voted for Hayato,” Tokiya interrupted. “Saw that coming.”  

 “Plus, the form also asked me about the reason why I chose him. I simply couldn’t make up an excuse if I chose somebody else. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Then, your reason must be ‘because he is the reason why I want to be a composer. I want him to sing my song. I want to make a nice song just like his’, right?” Tokiya confirmed.

“Yeah, pretty much. I am sorry, Tokiya-kun.”

The sweet voice melted his heart yet since there were nosy parkers in the room, he frowned instead. “It’s okay. If you say so, I guess I don’t have any reasons why I should decline. My girlfriend wants to meet her original idol so I should fulfil her wish.”

That was what he said even in fact, his heart gave a ‘give me a break’ cry.

* * *

 

 **“What** do you think about your brother? How is he like at home?”

Tokiya or Hayato just grinned at such a clichéd question, coming from Yuna, the leader of the infamous A Class trio who squeaked like a dolphin.

Maybe in the eyes of all students in the hall, Tokiya or Hayato just provided them with a dreamy fan service in form of stunning smile but according to STARISH…

“He was this close to throw the mic to her, considering he already hates her,” Ren commented.

“Fighting, Tokiya! We believe in you,” Otoya cheered sotto voce.

 “This guy’s acting skill is so amazing, right? Even he dislikes Hayato, he looks natural making him as a part of himself,” Masato acknowledged.

“Tokiya is.. Well, I heard that a lot of people said that he is aloof and doesn’t have a heart in singing~ _nya…._ But…” his grin grew wider as he so-called recalled how Tokiya acted when they ‘were’ around each other. “But for me, he is such a cute brother that I want to squeeze his cheeks so hard _~nyaa_...”

“And he is also amazingly full of himself,” Syo scoffed.

“I know, right?” Cecil admitted.  

The Hayato’s fan meeting was rather smooth, adding the fact that Hayato is an experienced idol with countless fan meetings. The event started with the greetings from Hayato with his _Oha-yahho_ trademark, followed by series of activities like singing together, lucky draw, having lunch while watching Hayato’s movies and playing some games.

But Hayato is Tokiya after all. His demonic nature when it comes to his friends and Haruka always made him turned cheeky especially when he learned all of them voted for Hayato. Not to mention they were the one who made fun of him first by making funny faces in the midst of audience just to make him laughed and could not focus on the event. Heck, even Masato also turned to be mischievous right now!

“Please guys. When the event starts and I happen to make an eye contact with you guys, please by all means… please look at somewhere else. Your faces… No matter how serious they are, they looked funny.”

Which of course, they did not obey him at all. Instead, they had fun teasing him.

Which again, eventually led them to be Hayato’s victim.. 

First of all…

“Since Aijima Cecil-kun won the contest, I have a gift for Cecil-kun _~nya_..” Tokiya exclaimed as soon as a crew with a plate of food in his hands came forward.

“Oh.. A gift?” Cecil turned pale even it was obvious that his prize is a food. Quarrelling with Tokiya for God-knows-how-many-times, the prince somehow could sense a menacing aura whenever the idol wanted to pull a prank.

“Why did your face turn white _~nya_? You don’t like fried FISH? I bet you like it, Cecil-kun. It’s fried FISH, _~nya_ ,” Tokiya handed the fish just right in front of the prince’s face, enough for Cecil to about to vomit.

He hated fish, for heaven’s sake! Even he was used to be a cat who naturally loves fish, he did not seem like he possesses that kind of preference.

Thus, Aijima Cecil spent his day mentally swearing at Tokiya using his country’s profanities after eating the fish.

For Masato, since the scion really hates insects, Tokiya chose him to come to the stage and played a game which apparently suited the scion well.

It was the worst decision that Masato had ever made in his life..

Masato almost fainted when he learned that he was going to put his hand into a few boxes which contained several kinds of INSECTS. The game was simple and predictable. He needed to guess what kind of INSECTS were there but to guess it..

Of course he had to touch them which automatically made the scion prayed so that all the receptors in his skin would be dysfunctional for a while.

Just for a while.

“WAAAAA!!”

“Masato-kun, you don’t even touch them yet ~ _nya_!”

“ AAAAAA!!”

“Don’t worry, Masato-kun. It’s not dangerous. It’s just slippery~ _nya_.”

“What? What do you mean by.. KYAAAA!!”

 As expected, Masato’s baritone and usually cool voice resonated through the whole hall after he had touched countless types of insects.

“Masato-kun is so cute!” Natsuki exclaimed as he could see how red Masato’s face had become.

“I will make sure I will comfort him after this. Poor Hijirikawa,” nobody could tell either Ren was being seriously sympathetic or he just had a fun to see his wimpish roommate.

“I suggest you leave him alone before he punches you,” Syo deadpanned.

“ _Ara,_ the red head over there! Your hair color is so beautiful _~nya_.. Come here, come here _~nya_!”

Otoya swallowed his saliva as he could sense that Hayato’s wide grin actually was a sign of his death.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Was Otoya’s deadly scream a few minutes later.

While Kurusu Syo..

“Okay, for representative from A Class and S Class, please come forward and play rock paper scissors _~nya._ If you win, I will join your team to play the next game _~nya_.”

 As soon as Syo and Yuna came in front, Tokiya or Hayato’s first comment is…

 _“Kawaiiii!”_ Tokiya squeaked, much to the short boy’s annoyance. “You are such a pocket boy! Wait, I am sure that this event is only for Saotome Academy students. Does Saotome-san allow your little brother to join as well?”

“Nooo,” the audience answered as they laughed.

Syo’s angry nerved throbbed on his forehead.

Tokiya, you jerk…

“Ah, I know! You must be Hyuga-san’s nephew, right? If I am not mistaken, Hyuga-san has a five years old cute..”

“I AM NOT!!” Syo finally snapped.

As for Haruka, once Tokiya saw the rosette in the midst of the audience, getting blushed and obviously happy, his flirtatious mode suddenly activated. He deliberately planned the last slot which was about..

He would sing ‘Nanairo no Compass’ to her, with a castle-like stage before taking pictures together. She even would get a pair of earrings as a gift for being Hayato’s lucky fan.  

Is the guy even afraid with the ‘love is forbidden’ rule? The answer is no. He did not even care anymore because for him, it would be much better if Saotome could figure out about their relationship sooner.

There are a lot things that he wanted to say to the principal.

“Yeah, you, with the short orange hair.. _Hai_ , please come in front _~nyaa_ ,” while using his best acting skill to pretend that he just picked the rosette randomly, he enjoyed himself seeing the composer’s reaction.

It was so cute!

 _‘Tokiya-kun, are you serious?’_ She made a face, hopefully he could understand her.

_‘Yes, I am serious. Come on, don’t be shy.’_

But I am already shy! Haruka screamed in her head as she walked out from the crowd.

From the corner of his eyes, Tokiya could see how lethal Yuna and her friends’ glares at his girlfriend.

Last time, they made her tripped. Shibuya-san even said that they always threatened Haruka. If I don’t do something..

“Since this is the last activity for our fan meeting, I will personally escort this pretty lady to the stage _~nya_ ,” as soon as they heard Hayato’s remark, all students cheered in excitement. More of them were jealous though.

 What..what? What did he mean? Haruka did not have much time to react as Tokiya was suddenly close to her before holding her hand.

“Shall we?” His smile is so stunning, melting the others’ hearts.

“Waaaa, so lucky!!”

“It’s nice to be her, right???”

“So jealous! How come that Nanami can be this lucky?”

It felt like the time stopped for a while and the next thing Haruka knew was she was already on the stage with Hayato.

Aka her boyfriend, Ichinose Tokiya.

“What’s your name, miss?” Tokiya asked, still holding her hand.

“Eh? I..I am Nanami Haruka.”

“Nanami Haruka-chan,” Tokiya twitched his eyebrows, pretending to recall the name. “Haru-chan.. I think I have heard your name somewhere _~nya._ Perhaps, are you the new Goddess of Music that Saotome-san keeps mentioning _~nya_?”

“Yess!!” just when Haruka wanted to deny such a grand title, the audience said otherwise.

“I see… well, it’s an honour, Haru-chan. I wish you all the best for your debut _~nya_ ,” Tokiya bowed as a sign of respect.

“Thank you,” Haruka bowed back.

“Okay, Haru-chan. Are you ready?” he squeezed her shivered hand.

“Yes, I guess.”

_Ah… kimi dake ni todoke  
kono kaze no oto yo　Feeling Heart…_

It was Hayato, singing in front of her, only for her.   
  
mou nakanakute ii yo sono mama de ii  
sora o mite　Ah… My Sweetest Love

From now on, ‘my sweetest love’ only refers to her.

* * *

 

 **_‘How_ ** _is it? Do you like Hayato, Haru-chan?’_

_‘Yes. Hayato is so cool! And.. The earrings.. Thank you, Tokiya-kun. I love you.’_

Tokiya smiled in relief as he read Haruka’s message. Finally, the fan meeting has ended and he already changed his clothes. All he had to do is waiting for his manager to pick him up.

“Students, what are you doing here?” Tokiya could hear B Class homeroom teacher’s voice, Fujiwara sensei outside of his waiting room.

“I told you already, Yuna-chan! We cannot just trespass on here.”

“Please, Fujiwara sensei! I really want to see Hayato-sama for a while. I have something to talk to him.”

Tokiya really knew the voice. The moment Nakamura Yuna bothered Haruka, he reminded himself to be careful with the girl.

Well, nevertheless, let’s see what did they want from Hayato, Tokiya’s ‘brother’.

“Fujiwara-san..” Tokiya opened the door before curving in a smile at them. “It’s okay. I will entertain my fans _~nya_.”

“Is it really okay, Hayato-san?” the teacher hesitated.

“Yes, it’s okay. Come in, girls. My manager is still on his way _~nya_.”

“Yes, thank you!!” those girls squeaked before allowing themselves got into the waiting room.

So shameless, Tokiya mentally commented.

“Yes. How can I help you _~nya_?” it took all for Tokiya to calm himself down. He wanted the composure that he possessed before.

But after he knew Haruka.. After he fell in love with her, he grew a new side in him which is he would not let anybody hurt her which later led him to be protective and ill-tempered.   

“Well, I.. I am your number one fan. Can I ask for your autograph?” Yuna initiated while trying hard to look pretty.

 “Of course _~nya_..” He smiled and gave them his autograph.

“You don’t have any earrings left? You know, the one you gave to that Nanami..” Yuna insisted, much to Tokiya’s speechlessness.

‘Please give me 100 reasons why should I give you that gift when I only have one girlfriend’ is what Tokiya really wanted to blurt out.

“Nope. Don’t have any _~nya_.”  

“Oh.. Is that so?” Yuna bit her lips, suppressing her jealousy. “If that’s the case, can I take picture with you, Hayato-sama?”

“Em.. sure _~nya_.”

“Okay, Hayato-sama,” Naomi who was assigned as the camerawoman eyed Tokiya to get closer with Yuna.

Please stop this for the God sake!

“Okay, sure.”

First picture was taken.

“Ah, can you touch me as well? This is such a rare opportunity. I really want my idol to hold me like this..” Yuna shamelessly grabbed Tokiya’s hand before putting it around her shoulder. “And get closer with my face like this..” she softly pulled Tokiya so that his cheek would touch hers.

What the..

“Okay _..~nya_.”

Not so easy, honey!

Just when the second picture was almost taken, Tokiya moved away from Yuna, much to the girls’ shock. 

“Hayato-sama..” Yuna stared at him, struggling to not scold her favourite idol while the other girls were speechless with his sudden rejection.

“I am sorry _~nya_ ,” Tokiya pretended to check his cell phone, “My manager is already here. I need to hurry up. Glad to see you guys _~nya_ ,” he carried his bag but Yuna reacted faster. She blocked him.

“Hayato-sama, can you at least sing Nanairo no Compass for me like you did on stage earlier?” the moment Yuna boldly requested, Tokiya could feel something was boiling in him. He clenched his fist as he put two and two together.

So, are you saying that you are jealous with Nanami Haruka right now? That’s why you are acting like.. No, Tokiya. Calm the hell down.

“My manager is waiting _~nya_ ,” Tokiya widened his eyes, trying hard to be polite when in fact he did not think Yuna deserved the politeness.

“Oh, it’s okay. But can I have a moment please? I have something to share with you about your brother,” Yuna put the most beautiful expression that would surely melt the guys while holding his muscular arm.

Another body contact. All of him is Haruka’s so he hated it when someone like Yuna touched him wherever she pleased.

“Oh.. Do you want to talk about Tokiya? Sure. What is it? I am glad to listen since my brother doesn’t really tell me about his school. I am kinda sad,” Hayato pursed his lips as he over reacted with his body as an attempt to release his arm from her grab. “Go ahead. If it’s about Tokiya, my manager can wait.”

“Well, you see.. Nowadays, your brother is weirdly close to a girl.. I mean the composer who you called Haru-chan just now. It’s kinda disturbing..”

“Why is it so disturbing, huh?” Hayato’s squeaky voice suddenly turned grim or to be precise..

The blue head just snapped as he could assume where this conversation was going.

“Hayato-sama?” Mizuki slightly move backward.

“I mean, why it disturbed you _~nya_?” Tokiya returned to his cheerful mode while mentally cursing himself to snap easily.

Just be cool, Tokiya. You are Hayato. You are supposed to be cheerful, friendly…

“Because it is disgusting to see how clingy that slut is. Even Ichinose-san kept brushing her off, she keeps being thick-skinned to the point of Ichinose-san could not resist her anymore. He is one of top princes here so to see him with such an ugly composer is an eyesore. An idol should not be in love and if the principal lifts the rule, that Nanami little bitch shouldn’t be with him. Just so you know, apart from Ichinose-san, she also hit on Ichinose-san friends. Those guys that you randomly chose to play games with you just now are Ichinose-san’s friends. That girl is such a sluttish.. ”

“If she is a slut, what that makes you, then?” Hayato or Tokiya’s high-pitched voice suddenly turned creepy again.

That made them froze in their spot. They never realized that they just insulted Haruka in front of Tokiya himself so…

Needless to say, they just dug their own grave.

“Now, I remember who you guys are. You are Nakamura Yuna, right? Tokiya told me that you used to confess your love to him. You even suggested to hide your relationship if he accepts you. Am I right?”

“I..Well..” Yuna stammered as she could feel the chill crept to her skin.

“Just kidding,” Tokiya’s cold voice suddenly turned vice versa again but it did not make them feeling better. “But let me tell you something, pretty girls..”

He suddenly grabbed Naomi and Mizuki’s heads before fastened them to Yuna’s who stood in the middle. Those three turned dumbfounded at the gesture which suggested an intimidation..

Which turned out to be true because while that Hayato still talked in his high-pitched voice, it still sounded scary. The dark aura around him erased the fact that this guy is a comedian who never exploded in front of his fans.

“Do you think a composer is JUST a composer? A composer and an idol complete each other, you know that? Who’s your homeroom teacher, by the way?” Tokiya whispered with his deadly tone.

“Ringo.. Ringo sensei,” Mizuki answered, still trembling. Nobody even had a nerve to meet Hayato’s blue eyes. Not to mention he was way too bigger than them which made him looked like a monster for a while.

“Ringo sensei, huh? I am sure Ringo-san had taught you that a composer is a major part in an idol’s career. Plus, do you say that Nanami Haruka is close to my brother? I tell you what. My brother never talked to girls before. But, to see him talking only with the girl, I suppose that the girl has something special that you guys don’t have. Beauty is not everything, you know. It can fade away with your common sense. With this kind of attitude, I dare to say that you guys will never go anywhere. But if you do,” he paused before making eye contact with each of them, indirectly stating that he was being serious. “I will make sure our country’s showbiz will never support the bitches like you guys. Try me.”

“Hayato, are you ready?” Hayato’s manager, Himura suddenly interrupted which indicated the end of verbal torture to the trio. “What are you doing?”

“Nah, nothing. Just a fan service _~nya_ ,” Tokiya grinned widely. “Okay, girls! I have to go _~nya_. It’s so nice to have a chat with you,” he stroked their heads slowly before leaving them flabbergasted.

They exhaled a big sigh of relief as soon as the door was slammed close.

“That gave me shivers, seriously,” Naomi commented. “I always see him as a frivolous comedian but now.. Not anymore.”

“Did you guys see his face? As soon as Yuna-chan mentioned about that Nanami, he completely changed. What a scary guy,” Mizuki added.

“That Nanami Haruka! Just what the hell did she do to.. I mean, even Hayato sama backed her! How’s that even possible!?” Yuna screamed out of rage. The fact that he was treated and warned harshly by her favourite idol was a downright insult to her pride.

“Yuna-chan, I think that’s all for now. We should never disturb that girl again,” Naomi suggested.

“No. it’s not over yet,” Yuna’s red eyes due to an anger turned piercing.

“Yuna-chan, what do you mean?” Mizuki trembled again.

“I said it’s not over yet!” Yuna screamed exasperatedly. “We need to teach the bitch some lessons so that she will leave Ichinose-san. I don’t care what it takes but if he rejected me, Nakamura Yuna, that bitch will also be rejected.”

Which again, she dug her own grave.

* * *

 

**Pang!**

Haruka fall onto the floor of the school store. The sudden pain she received on her cheek stung more and more. She lifted her chin up, only to be served with the sight of three students with lethal looks. It would not be an exaggeration if she assumed that these three girls wanted to kill her. If not, why would they suddenly drag her from going straight to dorm and pushed her into an abandoned store and to make it worse, other students already called it a day and rested in their dorms so no matter how loud she screamed for help, the chance for her being rescued was actually close to zero. 

“You are such a slut, you know that?” the short brown-haired girl who stood in the middle coldly stated something that made Haruka more confused.

Me? Slut? She was the one who slapped and pushed me to the floor! Why am I being called a slut!? Haruka thought angrily as she glared at the girl. Now, she could have a better look at those three bullies before getting even angrier.

Well, why didn’t she? Among all those fangirls of Tokiya, these three; Mizuki, Yuna (the short and brown-haired leader who was pathetically rejected by Tokiya a few months ago) and Naomi always picked a fight with her as the close relationship between Haruka and Tokiya became obvious. 

“What do you want?” Haruka asked while still stroking her red cheek.

“Stay away from Ichinose-san,” out of them, Yuna was the craziest one. The other two were just her little workers who you always find in any chick flick or chick lit; being so stupid to follow any order from their leader to stop other girls from being close to the hero. “He is everyone’s so you cannot make him like your own puppet.”

“Excuse me?” Haruka’s blood started to boil as she heard the word ‘puppet’ which made her forgetting the sting on her cheek. Instead, she stood up slowly. “Did you just say ‘puppet’? Do you.. Perhaps not looking at him as a person? And what’s with the ‘he’s everyone’s’ shit? Did you make it up so that nobody has guts to approach him? So lameee.”

If _obachan_ knows I learned cursing, she will feel very sad, guilt suddenly stabbed her heart as she said ‘shit’ but she could not help it. Her attitude slowly changed after she was in a serious relationship with the late Tokiya. Being the lucky girl who Tokiya chose to be his wife out of his countless fans, she also endured countless criticism which made her almost giving up to spend the rest of her life with him. They sneered at her both face-to-face and via social media. Tokiya said nothing at first apart from convincing her that she should not give a damn about those maniacs because their opinions about here were small-bore but he totally snapped when after six months they got married, there were still lunatics who mocked Haruka which led the late Tokiya to bring those foul-mouthed fans to the court. He did not even tolerate any negotiation or appeal from them. 

His words to Haruka which the rosette still remembered until now...

_“Being quiet doesn’t mean you are docile. You should fight for yourself if they are too much or else those mean people will ruin your life.”_

Which made her admiring him more and more.

“We made it for the sake of the rule given by the principal. There are no such things as love in idol world and you should aware of that. Not to mention that you are way too close with those princes. You, Tomochika, that Hazuki Maaya...” the black long-haired girl, Naomi stated.

“From the start, you already pulled those hot guys into your net and now, you even hit on Ichinose-san? For someone who is not that pretty, you sure are skillful to sweep them off their feet. You are such a slut!” Yuna suddenly got unnecessary emotional and that made her looked way more ridiculous to Haruka.

If only this girl knows how strong the friendship Haruka had with STARISH.. If only this girl knows that Haruka becomes close to STARISH is not because she wants to prove to everyone that she is such a hot chick..

 “But compared to me, you are much worse, Nakamura-chan. You used to confess your love to that everyone’s Ichinose-san but sadly rejected,” Haruka chuckled sarcastically, enraging the trio. “Did you just make the moronic rule because you think something clichéd like ‘if I cannot get him, the others also don’t deserve him’? How pathetic!”

“Shut up you bitch!” Yuna could not control her chagrin anymore as she slapped Haruka again. The idol wannabe is sure a cheek-slapping expert since every slap Haruka received so far was impactful but this time..

It was too much. Haruka even smacked her head against the edge of a drawer.

What happened next? She did not know. Her surrounding just went pitch-black after she felt someone snatched her earrings from her ears.

The earrings that Hayato gave to her..

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for chapter 19! I will post the next chapter soon. Sayonara!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I promise I will fight for you, Haruka. I will show to everyone that I am yours and you are mine. Whoever hurts you will regret that for the rest of their life.” -Tokiya-

CREDIT TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**“Oi,** Tokiya! About the fan meeting, you don’t have to make fun of my height..”

Syo’s complaints suddenly cut short when he saw Tokiya’s face when the blue head sat alone on a bench.

Tokiya had a face like thunder. It was the scariest face expression that Tokiya ever put.

“Tokiya?” Syo touched his shoulder as he took a seat. The blue head was totally spaced out before..

“Oi, Tokiya!”

The idol flinched with Syo’s slightly louder voice.

“Syo..”

“What’s wrong with your face, though? Something’s wrong?” Syo asked. Totally forgot that he was supposed to blabber on about Tokiya’s joke.

Tokiya sighed heavily as he closed his eyes for a while. He reopened his eyes after his anger cooled down.

“About the suspect for the late Tokiya’s murder..”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think there is a possibility that there is more than one suspect?”

“Such as?”

“Nakamura Yuna, Ashu Mizuki, Tanaka Naomi.. what happened to them after debut?”

“Well.. They debut as a group but disbanded due to some scandals.”

“Did they still disturb Tokiya after debut?”

“Sometimes but you know yourself, right? You always know how to make yourself intimidating.  Why?”

Tokiya could feel the anger crawled into his veins again. It was impossible for him to recall what happened in Hayato’s waiting room without the need to punch somebody afterwards but for the sake of both of them to narrow down the suspects of the late Tokiya’s murder, he had no choices.

“Oh my.. What a maniac! What the hell is wrong with them?” Syo reacted angrily as soon as Tokiya ended his story.

 “You know what? I really wish those girls are boys instead so that I can punch them on the face without even feeling that I lose my gentleness.”

“Just punch them, Tokiya! What’s with the ‘Nanami is a disgusting little bitch’ thing? Look who’s talking!”

“I know right!” for some reasons, Tokiya looked happy when Syo was obviously exasperated. Apparently, this is the advantage when you share your problem with someone hot-blooded like Syo. They will get as dramatic as you. “So, based on their obsession, don’t you think that HE is not the only suspect for the murder?”

“The one who killed the future you is a guy, Tokiya.”

“Maybe someone paid him to kill me?” Tokiya insisted.

Syo’s pissed off face slowly turned into a bitter smile, much to Tokiya’s bewilderment. “Tokiya.. perhaps, do you want to find the possibility that your friend is not the one who killed the future you?”

“Is that obvious?” Tokiya chuckled but Syo knew that Tokiya still thought that the fact that his own friend killed the late Tokiya was inconceivable.

Well, who didn’t, though?

When it was the first time Syo told Tokiya, it took all for him to convince the blue head about the killer. Even he did not have solid evidence but after Syo justified why he thought that this particular friend of them might be the killer that they looked for all this time, Tokiya eventually gave in.  

“It’s not that.. oi!” Tokiya glared at Syo. “How come you talk so casually like this when the possible killer is your friend?”

"It's not that I enjoyed suspecting my friend to be the killer, Tokiya."

Tokiya’s face turned miserable as he stared at the starry sky. “I might sound evil but there is a small part of me does hope that those girls… No, I mean anyone but my own friend is the killer. It’s hard you know. Rather than fuming at him, I just don’t want him to get hurt. A nice guy like him became a killer because of me. If only I did not marry Haruka..”

“Don’t say that, Tokiya,” it hurt Syo to see Tokiya blamed himself for something that clearly was not his fault. To tell you the truth, upon learning the identity of the killer, Tokiya did not want to confess his love to Haruka. He did not want to hurt his friend again but Syo was the one who convinced him to do vice versa because Tokiya deserved Haruka. “No matter how the rest of us reacted to your relationship with Haruka, you don’t share any responsible for that. It’s his choice if he did kill you.”

“But he is a nice guy, Syo,” Tokiya insisted, much to his teammate’s dismay. “We both.. No, everyone does know how great that guy is. He is a friend that you can rely on him. He helped me a lot, Syo. And.. He even started over with someone that deserves him.”

Syo bit his lips as he totally understood Tokiya’s feeling. “Let’s hope that our assumption turns out wrong, okay?”

“Yeah, you are right, Syo. After all, I have three problematic fans to deal with.”

It was a short silence before Tokiya received a call from Shibuya.  

_“Moshi-moshi?”_

“Ichinose-san!” it was rare for Tomochika to call him but..

It was even rare that she called him with her quivered voice.

“Shibuya-san, what happened?”

“Haruka.. Haruka’s missing.”

“What?”

“She still did not come back to dorm. It’s already late, Ichinose-san.”

Tokiya glanced at his watch. It was already 12.00 a.m.

No.. That can’t be..

* * *

 

  **“She** was supposed to study in library until nine. That’s what she told me but now..” Tomochika looked like she was about to cry. “That’s not like her to not tell me if something comes up..”

“Do you think some female students were actually the culprits of all this, Icchi?” Ren assumed as Tokiya was deep in thought, gaining himself a weak nod from the blue head.

“Do you mean that students in our class, Ren-kun? I noticed that they always glared at Haru-chan for no reasons,” Natsuki stated, making Tokiya’s blood started to boil.

“Ringo-sensei already asked the security guards to search for Nanami...” Masato could not finish his sentence as Tokiya abruptly left them.

“Oi, Tokiya!” Syo tried to stop the blue head by grabbing his arm. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Searching for her obviously. I cannot stand here doing nothing...” as Tokiya turned to their directions, they automatically flinched upon seeing his face expression.

Syo slowly loosened his grip, which made Tokiya left quicker.

A few seconds passed without anyone’s voice to break the dark atmosphere until...

“As expected from Tokiya, right? He’ll be downright scary when it comes to Haruka..” Cecil commented out of amazement.

“Does it ring a bell, you guys? The last time we saw him like that..” Syo’s question was quickly answered by nods.

That was when the late Tokiya decided to sue every single lunatic who insulted Haruka for being his wife.

* * *

 

**“Haruka!** Haruka!”

A pair of golden eyes who were closed for a few hours seemed having a hard time to open. Her frame, from head to toe was in pain as she slightly moved.

What happened?

Nobody was around and it was so dark. Damn! She hates dark places so much. It made her head kept imagining weird things like a woman with a hideous face and long hair, typical Japanese ghost who hops around and...

She bit her lips as the memory of her encounter with the trio crossed her mind. After beating her for something that she has done but not in a wrong way, they just left her in here, the most isolated place in Saotome Academy that no students would dare to come. There were some rumours about how this store did not even have a CCTV and Saotome actually planned to demolish it.

_Kami-sama, obachan,_ Tokiya-kun, Tomo-chan, _minna-san,_ help me...

“Haruka! Are you there? Haruka!”

Wait! Come to think of it, she heard a voice, calling her name.

“Haruka!!” the voice sounded more desperate.

“Tokiya-kun!” her spinning head finally could recognize the voice. Thank God!

“Haruka?”

“Tokiya-kun, I am here!” she shouted louder as her body was still in pain to move to the door.

“Haruka?” she sighed in relief as he finally knocked on the door, indicating that he finally found her. “Are you there?”

“Y..yes..”

“Thank God! Wait for me.. This cupboard blocked the door.”

“Okay.”

Time passed with the sounds of screeching cupboard radiated through the whole corridor. When the door was finally open, she saw the tired face of Tokiya before the blue eyes could take a good look at her.

“Haruka, what happened...” as the blue eyes scanned her, she looked at herself. A pair of golden eyes got bigger as she realized that she only wore a white camisole for her top. She looked around before spotting those poor uniforms of her.

The prices were so expensive but they just tore them apart like a piece of paper. Luckily she still had her skirt and shoes on. She did not even realize that she was spacey for a while until she felt a warm fabric around her shoulder.

It was Tokiya’s sweater.

“Haruka, how come you are here? What happened to you? What are those bruises?”

She met his eyes and his face expression made her totally regretted for making him worried. It was the same expression when they met the accident.

The accident which changed her entire life.

“Tokiya-kun...” she hugged him, seeking for a comfort. She felt like about to explode. She was scared with the isolated store. She felt indignant because of those skanks, the memory about Tokiya’s death haunted her back..

“Haruka..”

“Thank God you found me.. How come you.. I thought that nobody would ever..” she felt too relieved to talk properly.

“For a second, I thought the same too. We looked for you everywhere but we could not find you,” he also sounded relieved and maybe much more relieved than her.

He stroked her hair out of affection but it only sent him gasping out of shock upon seeing the scary bruises both on her ears. He scrutinized her body again before finding more bruises.

“What’s with these bruises? Who did this to you?” his voice sounded scary and for Haruka herself, she could not help but shivering out of fear.

“Tokiya-kun..”

“Hm? Tell me, who did this to you?” his voice mixed with a shiver and anger.

“Those.. those girls.. from my class..”

No, Tokiya. This is not the right time for you make her more worried.

“It’s okay. You can tell me the details later. Can you stand? I need to bring you to the health centre,” Tokiya suddenly stood up while holding her hands.

“I..” she tried to follow him but her legs gave in. The sudden pain just attacked them.

“I guess not..” Tokiya concluded as he supported her from falling down. Without warning, he carried her, in a princess style, enough to make her blushed.

“Tokiya-kun, it’s okay.. I can walk by myself..” she would lie if she said she did not enjoy the way he carried her but...

Luckily I don’t have a heart attack!

“Yeah, sure you can..” he replied with a slight sarcasm, making her pouted.

For some reasons, Tokiya was awfully silent as they walked past the corridor.

He needed a help from Tomochika.

“I am sorry for giving you such a hard time.”

“Eh?”

“I promise I will fight for you, Haruka. I will show to everyone that I am yours and you are mine. Whoever hurts you will regret that for the rest of their life.”

* * *

 

**It’s** the time already, Tokiya mentally commented as he just stared blankly at Saotome, Hyuga and Ringo who had this ‘we are so disappointed with you, Mr.Ichinose/Ichinose/Tokiya-chan. We are sorry but by hook or by crook, you will be expelled for disobeying the rule’ aura around them.

This was just bound to happen anyway. Tokiya totally could see this coming the moment he realized that he has fell in love with Haruka and decided to date her. Unlike Haruka, who was fidgeting next to him, Tokiya looked totally calm. Apparently, it just wasted his energy to worry about something that he already knew what would be the resolution was.

He knew Saotome. That geezer had a lack of sympathy syndrome when it comes to his ‘love is forbidden’ rule unless you were smart enough to change his mind.

“Mr. Ichinose, Miss Nanami, do you know why you guys are here?” Saotome ‘s stern voice and question made Haruka flinching.

Not to mention that the principal no longer talked with his typical tone. His normal but seldom tone just made the atmosphere turned more depressing.

“Yes,” Haruka and Tokiya answered in unison but the latter sounded more collected.

“You clearly had disobeyed the most important rule in this academy which is ‘love is forbidden’.”

“We got many complaints from other students about your relationship and we are afraid we cannot let it slide,” Hyuga also had this stern look but it was not surprising since the buff teacher always had this intimidating image in him. “We also had the evidences.”

He slided a few pictures to the edge of Saotome’s desk, for Tokiya and Haruka had a better look at it.

The first picture showed Haruka hugged Tokiya in the rain when the guy was so broken-hearted about his parents.

The second picture; it was the night when Tokiya confronted Haruka about how did she know so much about him.

The third picture; it was when Tokiya confessed to her.

The next picture; when Tokiya was in Hayato mode and blurted out cheesy lines with Haruka stroked his hair.

The other pictures showed every single moment of them together. It was like those pictures had been taken by a professional stalker because to be honest...

Most of their meeting places were somewhere hidden and it was late at night. How did this jerk even know?

“Care to explain, Tokiya-chan, Haru-chan? Your alibi,” Ringo, the cross-dresser asked them with a look that suggested a toleration.

But Haruka was too afraid to even mutter a word. Not to mention she was worried about Tokiya. She took a glance at Tokiya but the blue head just put on a poker face.

God, what should I explain? Those evidences have said it all. I don’t have any alibi to come up with. If we are meant to be expelled, then I will appeal to the principal to give Tokiya-kun a second chance. After all, it was all my fault. I was the one who...

“There is nothing to explain. Those pictures have said it all,” Tokiya’s nonchalant answer sent all souls in the principal’s room gasped in shock including Haruka.

“Tokiya-kun..”

“This girl,” he grabbed her hand before squeezing it since he knew that Haruka was going hot and cold about their current situation. “I love her. I want to protect her from anything that harmed her including those jerks who abused her in the store so I don’t feel the need to hide our relationship.”

“Ichinose, what are you on about?” Hyuga interrupted.

“Who brought all of those pictures to you?” Tokiya asked flatly but Haruka could notice that this guy was suppressing something boiling in him in order to remain polite to their teachers.

“It doesn’t matter,” Hyuga answered him yet it managed to make Tokiya getting apopletic.

“It. Doesn’t. Matter? Are you sure?” now his impertinence showed its color and all Haruka could do was praying silently for their well-being after this. “Are you going to just ignore how creepy this jerk can be when it comes to invade our personal life? Are you going to just ignore how Haruka was beaten and left alone in the abandoned store because of those girls? Those were serious crimes for crying out loud.”

“Ichinose, Nanami’s case was still in investigation and we cannot just accuse any of your fans out there as the suspects..”

“That’s not my point, Hyuga sensei. What I meant was... how can this academy forbid relationship among idols but at the same time, it doesn’t say anything about those fans who are just lunatic and need to show some respect for their idol’s private life?”

“Tokiya-chan, please mind your manners in front of the principal,” Ringo’s usually bubbly voice suddenly turned stern and more masculine. “That’s not a nice way to put it.”

 “I am sorry Ringo sensei but since I am going to be expelled, I might as well be blunt about this matter because either you realize it or not, the real victims are us, the one who just want to have a serious relationship and be happy with it.”

“Tokiya-kun, calm down..”

“I know why idols are forbidden to love. It’s because they have fans so they are basically those fans’ belonging. Idols are meant to be shared or meaning to say, those idols are like the puppets of showbiz so that those fans will keep buying their merchandise, their songs, all their works. In terms of economy, it’s a good strategy but allowing us to do erotic or immoral shows like cross-dressing competition to see how many guys can we, the male idols seduce? I think it’s not of sound mind,” as Tokiya boldly repudiated Saotome Academy’s rule, Haruka was panic-stricken to see how Hyuga looked like he was just  being slapped by Tokiya (well, he was the one who allowed Ren to start the cross-dressing competition in the first place) and Ringo who naturally felt a smack on his head as the topic of cross-dressing was criticized.

“No, Ringo sensei. I don’t mean you. At least, you don’t have to seduce any guys until they end up being confused with their sexual preference,” Tokiya gave him an apologetic look before continuing, “Just so you know, because of that stupid cross-dressing competition, I ended up receiving a pile of letters from the guys and most of them want to date me secretly. Don’t you think it’s disturbing? I just turned those innocent guys into a bunch of gays!”

Haruka bit her lips, struggling to not laugh when she knew she was not supposed to laugh. But, she could not help but chuckling upon seeing the three teachers were also like her. Struggling not to laugh at Tokiya’s funny whine.

“Please don’t laugh, you guys. I am the victim, you know,” Tokiya obviously could not think that it was funny. “My point here is.. the competition only targetted the students in this academy but that alone shows us what are the effects if we keep provoking the fans to worship us. Do we have to make them besotted until they suffer a celebrity worship syndrome? Or erotomania perhaps? Either you realize it or not, we the idols just make all the fans want the idols to date or marry them when in reality, nobody can really tell that their loves to idols are fake or not. So, why should we the idols sacrifice our feeling to someone that genuinely care about us for those people? ” 

A creepy silence engulfed the wide room and Tokiya knew why.

It was because Saotome was very hot under the collar with him.

The principal of the academy finally made eye contact with Tokiya.

“I give you way more time to talk but all you did was being rude and ungrateful, Mr. Ichinose,” his voice sounded scarily calm to the point of Haruka would not be surprised if the whole academy would break down due to the principal’s rage. “I am afraid I need to remind you that it’s not in our agreement. You are supposed to follow the conditions is you wish to debut again.”

“Agreement? What agreement are you talking about?” Hyuga and Ringo were completely clueless but not Haruka. She absolutely knew what Saotome was trying to mean.

Is principal going to spill the beans? What about Tokiya-kun’s second debut? What about Tokiya-kun’s secret? He can’t possibly..

“About me being tired to be Hayato and wanted a second debut? I don’t think that matters anymore.”

“Ehhhh????” Hyuga, Ringo and Haruka screamed in unison.

At last, Hayato himself gave the game away. Saotome did not even have to threat him about revealing his secret.

What is next?

“Then, Ichinose Tokiya, Nanami Haruka,” Saotome took a deep breath before continuing, “Even you guys are the shoo-ins in your respective course... even you guys are the talents that I feel it such a waste to be threw away but I guess I have no choices. You guys are selfish and selfish people who don’t care about their fans will never capture any heart and will never survive in showbiz. From now on, you guys are expelled!”

* * *

 

**A** few minutes passed since the love birds were walking together in a corridor. Nobody broke the awkward and silent moment.

Haruka was like a cat on hot bricks. She felt guilty for causing both of them to be expelled. Moreover, Tokiya did not look at her since they both excused themselves from the principal’s room.

Is he angry with me? But he is holding my hand though, her golden eyes stared at their intertwined fingers.

She just followed his steps until finding themselves in front of A Class.

“Tokiya-kun, why are we here?”

“To settle an old score,” he replied flatly before allowing themselves into the class where the students had fun doing their respective activities due to Ringo’s urgent meeting.

“Tokiya?” Otoya who was playing with his guitar while talking with Masato and Cecil was quite surprised with his roommate’s sudden entrance. In just split second, all eyes were on the love birds but the more important thing was why the heck did the S Class student, Ichinose Tokiya showed up with a cold look?

But they never realized that there were certain female students in the class who actually knew why that Ichinose Tokiya suddenly barged in.

“I am sorry to barge in but I need to see those girls,” Tokiya pointed towards Yuna and her friends, sending the others stared at them with questioning looks.

“Y..yes? What’s wrong?” Yuna nervously stood up from her seat, followed by Mizuki and Naomi who sat next to her. They tried to calm themselves down as Tokiya, who was still holding Haruka’s hand approached them.

“Why do you guys looked unsettled? Something’s wrong?” Tokiya asked sarcastically, ignoring other students who just formed a circle around them. “Or rather, did you guys DO something wrong?”

The simple trigger was enough to make those three girls turned ashen like a paper.

“Did you guys send our pictures to the principal?”

“Eh? What pictures?” the trio replied almost in unison and out of bewilderment but it was enough to make Tokiya pulled an unreadable expression.

So, it is really not them.  

“Tokiya-kun, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal anymore..” Haruka tried to beseech him but he was too angry to listen to her. All he wanted was the justice for Haruka.

“Ichinose, Nanami, what happened? Why do you suddenly come to see Nakamura?” Masato asked, referring to Yuna.

“Hijirikawa-san, these girls were the one who beat Haruka on that day,” his straightforward answer gained himself a shocked expression from other students while Masato’s calm expression turned cold.

“Is that true, Nakamura? You both, is that true what Ichinose said?” even Masato still gave them the chance to deny the claim but it was obvious for everybody that Masato totally believed in Tokiya.

“No! That was a bullshit! We don’t know anything about this so don’t just jump to the conclusion!” Yuna shouted out of fear when she tried so hard to act innocent. 

“Yes, Ichinose-san. We aren’t really close with her and we.. we don’t even give a damn about her life. We.. we are way much better than her. We will be idols but she’s just a composer! There is no way we have anything against someone like her,” in the midst of the nerve-wracking interrogation, Mizuki still kept her snobbish attitude to the fullest. Her insults to Haruka was totally the taboo words for Tokiya who treasured Haruka like his everything.

So, what happened next was totally a nightmare for the trio.

Tokiya smirked, suggesting that those chicks were just being nonsensical.

He looked around before his eyes found Tomochika. “Shibuya-san, do you bring them?”

“Yes,” Tomochika headed to her seat before taking out a plastic bag from her bag. She went to Tokiya before giving him the said object.

“For someone who enrolled into an idol course, you guys sure are really bad at acting,” he pulled out something from the bag, much to the others’ puzzlement. “As if it’s not obvious enough.”

As soon as Tokiya took out a pair of blood-stained white earrings which is the gift from Hayato, the female trio was too afraid to face Tokiya.

“Shibuya-san found them in your room, Nakamura-san,” his cobalt blue eyes especially stared at the blood stain. “You sure are desperate enough to steal them to the point of making her ears bleeding like this, huh? So despicable.”

His eyes only focused on the trio who just wished for the God to save them even it was undeniable that they were the culprits. 

“Apologize to her or I will make you regret for the rest of your life.”

“Ichinose-san..” Yuna was already teary as she fought with her panic. “Please forgive us. We swear we’ll never..”

“Apologize to her, not to me. You knocked hell out of her so logically speaking, you are supposed to apologize to her.”

With difficulties, the trio faced Haruka. There was a strong dissatisfaction over their faces.

“We are sorry.”

“That doesn’t sound sincere to me,” Tokiya’s dour remark made the girls flinched. “Apologize to her again.”

Yuna resisted herself from scowling either at Tokiya or Haruka. To be honest, she really despised Haruka. She was used to be rejected by Tokiya but Haruka... he even supported and protected her.

What’s so special about this nerd anyway?

“We are sorry. We know we are wrong.”

As Yuna thought that she had done a good job in apologizing to Haruka, Tokiya’s hand swiftly grabbed the collar of Yuna’s shirt, caused the others screamed in panic.

“Tokiya-kun, don’t!” Haruka was too shocked with the sudden attack because nobody in this entire universe would expect that Tokiya had this violent side. She could see that Tokiya’s hand shivered out of resentment. Otoya held Tokiya’s shoulder, blocking the blue head from strangling Yuna who coughed due to short of breath.

The commotion was no joke. Everybody froze on their spot, too scared to interfere except his friends.

“Ichinose, don’t be crazy! Let her go!” with Masato’s full energy, aided by Otoya, they managed to break off Tokiya’s strangle.

Tokiya who was still held by Otoya took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down after realizing that he almost killed a girl while Mizuki and Naomi comforted Yuna who was so relieved but traumatized at the same time.

“That’s what you got from being half-arsed, you slut. All this time, when you guys annoyed her, I just let it slide because I believe you guys will stop and get tired of it but the moment when you lay your dirty hands on her, I will never forgive you. Whatever you want to achieve after this, I wish you can just go to hell! Come on, Haruka!” he grabbed her hand before leaving the classroom.

“Hey, Ittoki..” Masato,Otoya, Cecil, Natsuki and Tomochika still froze on their spot. “In the future, had Ichinose always been like a delinquent?”

“No, Masa. If my memory serves me right, no matter how angry he could get, he never hit anyone,” Otoya answered the blue head, out of disbelief.

“Tokiya-kun is totally out of character, right?” Natsuki’s comment gained him nods from his friends.

“Well, he’s already out of character the moment he punched me because of a bento. Did you guys just forget that I am his first victim?” Cecil interrupted but all he got was..

“THAT’S BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT, YOU KUPPURU!”

“You guys are so mean!” 

* * *

 

**“We** are going to pack our necessary things now. For the time being, we will stay at my house,” Tokiya stated his next plan as they walked quickly along the wide corridor. His hand stil held Haruka’s hand like they were glued together to begin with.

“Tokiya-kun..”

“You know what? I hate the fact that just because the person is a supposed-to-be-a-fragile-human being with the word ‘female’ as her gender, no matter how bad she can get, we cannot just punch or kick her. It’ll be a lot easier if those trio are guys but wait! If they are guys, it will sound more disturbing if they beat you because of me, right? No, that also can’t do.”

That’s what he thinking right now? So random, she bit her lips to resist herself from chuckling.  

Current situation is supposed to be a melodramatic scene, right? But why did she feel the need to laugh? Not to mention that Tokiya and her were expelled by Saotome.

“Tokiya-kun,” she squeezed her arm, making him stopped walking. He turned to met her eyes, sending her shocked with his face expression.

The red and scary face expression that she saw just now was no longer to be seen. Instead, he looked too guilty.

“I am sorry, Haruka,” the soft and sweet voice broke her heart even she did not have any idea what would he sorry for. “I cannot help it but the moment I saw that they were so rude to you and not even feel guilty, I totally lost my temper. I almost chocked her to death.”

“It’s okay, Tokiya-kun. Now, let’s hope that the trio will learn the lesson, okay?”

“But they hurt you,” his blue orbs looked at her as he stroked her hair down to her face lovingly. “I am so happy to meet you and when things just got better, they treated you like a junk just because of their stupid obssession. What happen if they step out of line? What happen if..” he paused for a while as he struggled to pull himself together. She could feel his shivered hand against her face. “What happen if I lose you just like I lost my father?”

That should be my line, Tokiya-kun. Don’t you realize that the one who will leave first is you? You will leave me first.

 “No, that’s not going to happen, okay? Don’t worry,” just like a magic, her caress on his cheek managed to make him smiling brightly instead of frowning.

“This boyfriend of yours sure is such a pain to handle, right? He’s lame, cheesy, hot-tempered..”

“Loving, protective, cute, gentle..” she cut in with her compliments. “But also stubborn, reckless and bold. Are you sure you are good about us got expelled? The reason you start over here because you want to sing again. You used to tell me that singing is your life goal, Tokiya-kun. What will happen to you after this?”

Instead of her concern, he just stared blankly at her before looking around, seemingly searching for something before his blue orbs widened a bit.

“Oh, there is a CCTV there. I was told by Saotome-san that it is connected straight to his office.”

“Ehh?” Haruka was too speechless. Has Tokiya been scatterbrained due to the drama that happened nowadays? Why did he suddenly talk about CCTV?

“What a coincidence. Our position and angle are also perfect,” he continued to ramble and as Haruka tried to read what the hell did Tokiya have in his mind, he suddenly cupped her face. “Haruka, if you want to slap me, at least do it after we get out from here, okay?”

“Eh? Why would I slap you?”

“Because of this.”

What happened next was too swift for Haruka to react, let alone to slap Tokiya for hugging and kissing her, literally in front of Saotome.    

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for chapter 20! Do you like it? Feel free to let me know what do you think about this chapter,okay? Sayonara!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A so-called school break in Haruka's hometown..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Kudos!

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**“My** Little Little Girl.. Hoshikuzu Shall We Dance.. Crystal Time.. Independence... Secret Lover... Believe My Voice... Be The Light... okay, it’s all here,” Haruka let out a sigh of relief as she looked at each one of the music sheets. She glanced at the clock, eyes widened upon realizing that it was already 11.28 p.m.

Thank God it crossed my mind to rewrite his songs. At least I can spend time with this. Can’t wait to see his response, she smiled brightly, anticipating a great response from her boyfriend.

The typical Tokiya would hum and analyze her songs thoroughly before smiling and praising her.

But to wait for his response, he was still showering after coming back from working. It was two days since they both were expelled from Saotome Academy and Haruka used this chance to be a ‘good housewife’ to Tokiya who left home in early morning and only showed up later than 10.00 p.m. His schedule as Hayato was still packed with drama and variety show, caused the rosette to spend most of her time alone in the big house.

There was nothing much she could do for him from cooking breakfast and talking with him. She also did not dare to go out to take some fresh air because apart from easily getting lost was just a part of her character, she also did not want to cause any suspicion since the building was resided by many famous celebrities.

Yesterday, she was almost caught red-handed by Tokiya’s president when the legend singer suddenly came in and checked the house. According to Tokiya, that was part of Seichiro’s routine to ‘invade’ his idol’s private life so that they would not do anything that would ruin their public image.

“Composing new songs already?” Tokiya’s sudden comment sent his girlfriend shocking.

“Em.. no.. actually..” she blushed as her golden eyes met his eyes. The still wet blue hair made him looked more mesmerizing than usual. “These are the songs that I had composed to my husband during his career. I want to show them to you.”

“Really? Sounds good,” he quickly took a seat next to her as he grabbed ‘My Little Little Girl’ music sheet.

Tokiya continued humming as he read each of music sheet while being stared by Haruka nervously.

“Cool. As expected from you, Nanami Haruka, the genius composer,” he smiled chummily as his eyes still glued to the sheet. “Otoya told me how successful you are as a composer. Even other groups also tried to steal you from us.”

“No, I am not that good, okay? They always know how to exaggerate things when it comes to my songs.”

“Then do you mean that I am also exaggerating? I honestly think that you are very talented,” for some reasons, his blue eyes stared at certain song. “You know what? Out of all these songs, I think I want to keep this all by myself until I find the right time to sing it,” he took out one particular music sheet.

Crystal Time? Why, though?

“Why?” Haruka questioned.

“Beats me..” his face expression already showed that it would be his secret.“ _Ne,_ Haruka...”

“Yes?”

“Do you prefer Hayato to myself? Or rather, do you wish the Hayato that you always idolizes is not fake?”

Haruka could not help but smiling out of amusement. The late Tokiya also used to ask her the same thing.

“Hm? What’s with that reaction?”

“Tokiya-kun, are you perhaps... are you jealous with yourself right now?” her casual remark sent him slightly blushing.

“Please don’t put it that way. It sounds weird. Moreover, Hayato is not me after all.”

Instead, she was staring at him with a provocative smile.

“Okay, I know what do you want to answer. Just forget that I even ask,” he was about to go to the kitchen to find some drinks but was restained by Haruka, holding his hand.

“Of course I prefer you, Tokiya-kun. That’s why I am even here, as your girlfriend.”

That was all it took to make the blue head relaxed. Slowly, he smiled while his hand caressed her cheek softly.

  “You sure know how to make me at ease, right?”

“It’s because I already know what do you like, what do you hate.. Do you forget? I can read you like an open book.”

“Yeah, you are right..”

“Moreover, Tokiya-kun, I wish from now on, you can stop feeling intimidated about Hayato. You are special in your own way. Don’t forget that.”

What happened next was Tokiya could not hold back from hugging the girl.

The girl that he never knew that he would fall in love with so much like right now.

“It’s so refreshing to hear those words, coming from you after today’s work,” he gave her a smile but his face was obviously tired.

And it was also obviously tired, not solely because of his work.

“What’s wrong? Did your mother pick a fight with you again?” she stared into the blue eyes as she pulled away but he just shook his head slowly.

“Not my mother but Megumi-san is the one who always picks a fight with me.”

He stated it casually but it managed to make Haruka’s heart sank.

Does he not see her as his mother anymore? Does he already give her up?

“Tokiy-kun, do you not see her as...”

“Just now, I told my president that I want end our contract. I want to quit being Hayato,” he quickly interrupted. Obviously, she did not have to question anymore.

“What?” Haruka could not contain her surprise. Two days ago, he was asked to be expelled from the academy and now, he wanted to quit being Hayato? What about his dream?

“Of course he did not allow me to quit that easy but after I did some rebellion and threatened him about his relationship with Megumi-san...”

“What? Did you just say you rebelled and threatened your own president? You, Ichinose Tokiya?” her finger trembled as she pointed towards Tokiya out of disbelief.

“What’s wrong?” his face was strangely clueless. It was like he never thought that committing those two verbs were insane until someone pointed them out.

“That should be my line, Tokiya-kun,” she rised her voice as she desperately wanted him to come to his senses. “What’s wrong? Why do you suddenly want to quit? You were just expelled..”

“Because I want to debut as myself,” he answered nonchalantly but it just made Haruka’s head spinning.

“But you were just expelled! If you quit being Hayato as well, you have nothing..”  her words were cut short by his big hand, suddenly pulling her cheek.

“Just believe me. Yeah, Saotome san already convinced us but I have a good feeling about this,” he convinced her. Of course she knows that Tokiya is someone that she can count on. It was something that both her husband and this Tokiya possesses.

But how, though? As far as she knew, Shining Saotome is a man without a mercy. 

“Tokiya-kun, what are you doing?” she asked incoherently as Tokiya still pinched her cheek but he just smiled cheekily as he continued playing with her face, generating more weird expression.

“Just want to know about you better,” his answer totally did not satisfy her in any way.

“And which part of this has anything to do with ‘to know about me better?’” she pouted but it just made him splitting his sides as he coincidentally grabbed and pressed her cheeks, which made her looked like Tweety.

“I just want to know how my girlfriend will look like when I do this..” he pulled her nose forward, which sending him to laugh again.

This guy... is he really trying to know me or he just played around because he doesn’t want to talk about that Hayato problem? Honestly, I don’t know anymore.

As she just allowed Tokiya to play as he pleased with her face, she was greeted with a flash from a camera.

Wait, a flash?

 Haruka gasped out of horror as he was capturing her series of funny faces using his camera. Where and when he got that, nobody knew.    

“Tokiya-kun, you are the worst! Stop playing around with my face!”

“But, I just want to save your pictures!”

“But they are embarrassing!” her fair-skinned face turned red.

“It’s okay. I will never show them to anyone.”

“But still... that’s not fair! Let me do it to your face too!”

“My pleasure..”

That ridiculous moment passed before something crossed Haruka’s mind.

“ _Ne,_ Tokiya-kun...”

“Yes?”

“Since we both kinda have a long vacation and you said that you want to know me better, why don’t you follow me to _obachan_ ’s house? You should see my hometown.”

“Eh?” Tokiya automatically turned nervous. He stared into the golden eyes, feeling uncertain about the idea of meeting his girlfriend’s grandmother.

Before Tokiya could respond, his cell phone rang, indicating that Otoya was calling him.

_“Moshi moshi?”_

“Tokiyaaaaa, open the dooor pleaseeee!” the high-pitched voice of the red head made him flinching.

“What door? Just where are you, Otoya?”

“We are right in front of your house.”

“Huh?”

* * *

 

**“Well,** how should we put it..” Cecil gave a sheepish smile while the others looked somewhat happy with something.

“Put it nicely or I will not let you guys stay here tonight,” Tokiya could not help but threatening his friends because it took him all to make them telling him what on earth was happening.

All they had done since a few minutes ago was grinning like a clown, including Tomochika.

“We are also expelled like you, Tokiya-kun!” Natsuki finally answered him, delightedly.

“What!?” Haruka’s eyes sized up.

“What’s so fun about that, though?” Tokiya asked again, feeling confused.

“The same reason as yours, Tokiya,” Syo continued, “We just think that it is the time for us to rebel and voice out our opinion to the principal. We want to date properly like other normal couple.”

His answer sent Tokiya staring at him for a few seconds before blurting out, “But you don’t even have a girlfriend, let alone a potential partner. So, why are you even here?”

Tokiya’s insulting comment sent the others laughing as a sign of agreement with the blue head, much to the short boy’s chagrin. Come to think of it, Syo was the only one who did not have a potential partner or girlfriend but he was the one who got all excited about rebelling against Saotome’s rule. The irony was no jokes.

“Shut up! I will make sure I will have a girlfriend. Soon enough, I will be the first person who gets married among STARISH members,” it was cute to see Syo trying so hard to act tough when in fact, it just made him more childish and adorable.

_“Hai, hai,”_ they responded in unison, indicating two things. They did not take Syo’s words seriously and they also treated him a kiddie.

“Ah, I just remember that you pulled a ‘stunt’ that nobody would forget for the rest of their life,” Syo’s sudden and smart remark made the others literally turned their backs on Tokiya but that just made the blue head put on his poker face while Haruka quickly blushed. 

“Yeah, Syo is right. Tokiya was so cunning two days ago,” Cecil commented with his usual ‘loves to pick a fight with Tokiya’ face.

“I don’t know that Icchi could be way much bolder when it comes to kissing. I don’t even kiss Pretty Girl yet,” Ren said.

“Of course I could. Regardless how icy and mean I am according to someone,” Tokiya glared at Otoya and Cecil, “I am still a MAN.”

“What do you mean ‘I am still a MAN’ Tokiya-kun!? Please don’t blurt out a suspicious statement like that! _Minnasan,_ actually, it.. It was not even on my lips. Tokiya-kun just kissed here. Maybe the angle from the CCTV looked like he kissed my lips but the truth is.. it’s not,” Haruka showed the corner of her lips in order to clear up the misunderstanding but the rest of them just smirked deviously. “I am telling the truth, _minnasan!_ Tokiya-kun, please say something!”

“If I do, do you think they believe us? Just let them be with their pervertish imagination,” Tokiya’s sarcastic remark made those smirks faded away, replaced with a heavy sigh.    

“Okay, he didn’t kiss her lips,” Cecil admitted out of frustration.

“Come to think of it, it doesn’t sound like Tokiya-kun to do something like that in public,” Natsuki added, gained himself a nod from Tokiya.

“Glad someone realized it. Thank you, Shinomiya-san.”

“But don’t you realize that you were quite reckless and dramatic recently, Icchi?” Ren asked.

“Which part?” Tokiya asked, surprisingly oblivious.

“All parts obviously!” Syo exclaimed. “Those couple T-shirt, Tomoya’s tragic death and all that. Not to mention you suddenly became an Angry Hayato because of those girls,” Syo referred to the incident where Yuna and her friends harassed Hayato in his waiting room.

“What do you mean ‘Angry Hayato’? Tokiya-kun, why don’t I know about this?” Haruka was confused because apparently, other STARISH members knew it well.

“Nothing, Haruka. They reap what they sow. I just made them faced the music,” Tokiya stated, obviously not interested to explain to his girlfriend. There was no sign of ‘oh, why did I do that? I am so stupid!’ expression on his face. 

“Facing the music by strangling a girl right in front of other students? What if they twist the fact that you were the one who attacked them first?” Masato interrogated, sternly. For a second, Tokiya felt like he was scolded by his friends but it did not intimidate him at all. He believed that what he did was right.

“Then they just dig their own grave again,” Tokiya added, much to the others’ horror.

“So scaryyyyy,” Otoya pretended to cry. “All this time, I sleep in the same room with a hooligan.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Otoya,” Tokiya warned as he could not stand with the excessively dramatic reaction.

“You should calm the hell down, Icchi. You are a singer, not a gangster,” this time Ren was serious. Tokiya’s recklessness might risk his future career and that was the last thing that he wanted it to happen to Tokiya.   

 “I know right? Never thought that Tokiya has a violent side. For a second, I thought I was going to deny that you are my roommate and pretend to not know you. Hahahahaa,” Otoya’s cheerful but back-stabbing comment was the one who got on Tokiya’s last nerve the most.

“Given the situation, you guys sure can be a rather promising back-stabber,” Tokiya clicked his tongue out of irritation. 

“Hey, don’t be angry, Tokiya. For the ‘love is forbidden’ rule, we will always back you,” Otoya ensured his roommate, caused Tokiya to roll his eyes. “So, what is our next plan?”Otoya looked around, seeking for any suggestion from his teammates.

“Hm... why don’t you guys join Tokiya-kun and me to my hometown? You know, to just give us a breath of fresh air,” Haruka who finally cured herself from being so ambarrased about her kiss with Tokiya suddenly interrupted.

“Yeah, that would be great!”

* * *

 

**“I** am so happy for you, Haruka,” Tomochika sincerely remarked as she walked side by side with the composer from the train station to Haruka’s _obachan_ ’s house.

“Thank you, Tomo-chan. I never thought that my dream to be in a relationship with him would come true this soon. It’s all thanks to you guys,” she averted her gaze towards Tokiya who walked a bit way behind them, surrounded by other STARISH members.

“Nah, don’t mention it. As long as you are happy, we all will be happy,” something cheeky came across the stylish future idol’s head as she met the golden eyes right in front of her. “Hey, why don’t we play a mini game by the time we arrive at _obachan_ ’s house?”

“A mini game? What do you mean?”

“In your head, you must plan to introduce Ichinose-san as your boyfriend, right? Why don’t you just keep it as a secret and let your _obachan_ gets suspicious by herself?”

“Eh? Do we really need to do that? I really want _obachan_ to know about it first you know. After all, Tokiya-kun is my first boyfriend.”

“Yeah but would it be more fun if your _obachan_ can guess which one is your boyfriend enough from your body gesture?”

And so, she agreed to play along with Tomochika’s random plan. She would be quiet about her relationship with Tokiya.

“Haru-chan, welcome back!” as soon as Haruka’s grandmother, Yachiyo opened the main door, STARISH quickly behaved themselves. Well, to be specific, her warm presence was enough to stop Cecil and Tokiya from bickering, Masato and Ren from scoffing at each other, Natsuki from hugging the cute Syo and Otoya from being like a child, admiring Haruka’s hometown for being so scenic.

“ _Obachan,_ I am home!” she hugged Yachiyo, expressing her longing to the woman that took a good care of her since she was small.

“Wow, what nice people you brought along with you, Haru-chan,” Yachiyo smiled chummily as she took a good look at the others, sending them grinned proudly except Tokiya.

Not really nice, Nanami-san. I just made your beloved granddaughter expelled from school, Tokiya mentally reflected on himself, making him spaced out and not really paying attention to the others’ conversation until...

“Is this guy your boyfriend, Haru-chan?” Yachiyo suddenly pointed towards Tokiya, sending the others gasped in shock.

“ _Oba-chan,_ how do you..” Haruka stuttered while Tomochika chuckled as her ‘mini game’ with Haruka just now failed on the spot.  

“ _Ara,_ am I right? I observed you guys for quite a while  and I must say, the way you look at this young man.. I can tell right away that you really care about him, more than just a friend.. . Plus, what do you expect from your grandma, sweetie?”

“Wowww, so cool,” Syo and Otoya exclaimed while the others just smirked.

“Yeah, _obachan_. Tokiya-kun is my boyfriend,” as the composer blushed, Tokiya quickly gained his composure after Yachiyo surprised the heck out of him before he bowed to Yachiyo.

‘Nice to meet you, Nanami-san. I am the boyfriend who made your granddaughter expelled from school’ was what Tokiya wanted to say.

 “I am sorry for asking this but are you guys having a semester break or something? Haru-chan told me that you guys are going to stay here for a week,” Yachiyo’s question made them restraining from showing a nervous look.

“Yes, kind of. That school has a weird holiday schedule to begin with,” Tomochika answered her smoothly, much to others’ relief.

“I see. Please come in, make yourself at home.”

* * *

 

**“These** four rooms are for you guys. I already tidied up them,” Yachiyo pointed out to all rooms that are available for the boys.

“That’s very nice of you, Nanami-san,” Masato smiled.

“Nothing. I was so happy to get to know Haru-chan’s friends. Please help yourself, okay? If you want anything, just tell me. Haru-chan, Tomo-chan, follow me,” the lady poked the girls’ arms before leaving STARISH in the middle of the corridor.

There was a pregnant silence until…

“She said those four rooms are for us, right?” Syo ensured. “Which means two people per room, right?”

“Yes,” Tokiya answered. 

“Guys, I have an idea. Why don’t we change our roommate for the time being?”

Cecil’s randomness was here… again.

 “For what?” Masato asked first.

 “Because it will be more fun. Who knows, we might learn something new about our new roommate,” Cecil suggested, gaining himself a sudden agreement from Otoya and Natsuki.

“He suggested that because he doesn’t want to end up being alone like always,” Ren remarked casually, sending Cecil to pout out of frustration. “Since there are seven of us.”

“That’s mean, Ren! But, yeah.. Ren is right. If we don’t draw, Otoya and Tokiya will always be together since they are way too close. Ren will stick with Masato since Masato is the only one who can control him and Syo will be with Natsuki. I don’t want to end up like some outcasts,” it looked like Cecil was not being afraid of showing his childish side.

“Well, guys, I personally think Cecil’s idea is not bad at all. With this, we can know either our bond with our original roommates are too strong to the point of we will still be in the same room despite of the shuffles,” Otoya added, being optimistic as usual.

“How about we add another rule? Whatever the result is, we cannot change it. We must accept whoever our roommate is,” Cecil still continued with his randomness.

“Then, let’s settle it with color draw or something,” Natsuki continued, gaining himself sudden nods from others.

Two minutes later….

“I got the purple one….. no, not you again, Otoya,” that was Tokiya’s off-the-cuff reaction after seeing the color that Otoya drew.

“Yeayyyy, it’s you again, Tokiya!” Otoya quickly hugged his uncomfortable friend.

“Hey, let me go!”

“Syo-chan, we will be in the same room again! Let’s go, Syo-chan!” with his powerful physical strength despite of adoring cute things including Piyo-chan, lifting Syo with one hand is just a piece of cake.

“Hey, Natsuki! Waaaaa, this is too high! Put me down!!”

Meanwhile, Masato just stared blankly at Ren.

“Why you?”

“How should I know?”

“My question is.. why.. you?” Masato was totally done with Ren. “I thought that we are supposed to shuffle roommates and this is the best chance ever!”

“I don’t know. Maybe _Kami-sama_ wants you to nag at me even this is supposed to be a school break or perhaps... He wants Cecil to be the outcast again.”

“Ren, you are so mean! Hey, guys! What’s the use of drawing if you guys just end up with your original roommates!? Let’s draw again!”

“Nah, it’s a pain,” the only one who bothered enough to answer was the drowsy Tokiya and it was because he could not stand with Cecil’s high voice.

* * *

 

**After** settling down and resting, Haruka, Yachiyo and Tomochika were preparing dinner while having a girls’ talk until...

 “Ne, Haru-chan.. I noticed that Tokiya-kun was the quietest one since you guys arrived here.. Does he have problem?” Yachiyo asked as she glanced at Tokiya, who sat under a peach tree, chuckling at Ren’s prank to Masato which the orange idol received a smack right on his head from the blue one.

Well, to tell you the truth, we all have problems but we cannot bring ourselves to tell you. But it seems like Ichinose-san/Tokiya-kun is the most worried, Tomochika and Haruka mentally answered Yachiyo. 

“I think he is just tired, _obachan._ No need to worry about that..” Haruka ensured her grandmother even at the same time, she started worrying about Tokiya.

The conversation just ended there but nobody could tell what Yachiyo was planning to do.

And the lady luck was on her side when in the next morning, she found Tokiya, sitting alone under a mango tree, seemingly deep in thought.

“ _Ohaiyo,_ Tokiya-kun,” her greet startled him the most as if Yachiyo, the owner of the house would wake up late like his teammates.

“ _Ohaiyo_ , Nanami-san...”

“Just call me _obachan._ After all, you’ve became my family too since you are dating Haru-chan,” her sincere and friendly remark made him feeling warm.

Something that he never got from his own mother.

“I don’t know if I even have time to be your real family.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Nanami.. I mean, _obachan_.. the truth is...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end for chapter 21! A bit shorter before we go to the next phase; revealing who is Tokiya's murderer! Based on Tokiya's conversation with Syo in previous chapter, can you guys guess who is the suspect? As usual, let me know what do you think, okay? Matta ne!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth found its way to be revealed.

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**A** few days passed with Yachiyo busy entertained her guests.

As typical as they could be, Masato and Natsuki spent most of their times by learning new recipes from Yachiyo.

“Since you are so enthusiastic about cooking, why don’t you try to cook our lunch, Natsuki-kun?”

“ _Hai_ , my pleasure!”

“Nooooo!!!!” the others suddenly yelled in desperation.

Meanwhile, Otoya, Cecil and Syo who love playing sports ended up forcing the others to join them instead of solely being audience who criticized their style of playing.

“Then, why don’t you play with us, Tokiya? You cannot just lounge like that for the whole day, right?” Cecil smirked as he was positive that Tokiya is not as athletic as him since he rarely saw the blue head playing sports.

“You are going to regret that, you know,” Tokiya answered calmly before taking the badminton racket from Otoya.

“Tsk, you are so full of yourself when I will be the winner for sure,” Cecil goaded.

“Yes, he is going to regret it,” Ren mumbled. Nevertheless, he also anticipated the outcome of the match.

Five minutes later...

“I just.. lost...” Cecil collapsed to the ground dramatically. He could not believe that he was defeated by...

Ichinose Tokiya who spent most of his free times with  memorizing books.

“I want to take a shower,” Tokiya handed the racket to the still amazed Otoya before leaving them speechlessly.

Well, at least not for Ren because if his memory serves him right...

Tokiya or Hayato is an idol who is good in sports. How could anybody miss the detail?    

“I don’t know Tokiya-kun is that good,” Natsuki still had his eyes widenes out of amazement.

“That guy is good in everything, right?” Syo exclaimed.

“No. His drawing sucks,” Otoya replied but he still froze on his spot, admiring his roommate’s skill.

“Boys, come and get some drinks!” Yachiyo shouted from the kitchen.

_“Haii!!”_

Meanwhile, when it comes to the couples among the group, Haruka-Tokiya and Tomochika-Natsuki duos also relished their sweet times together, leading the others wished they also had their own women.

“I should take Pretty Girl here as well,” Ren commented while twirling a leaf since Yachiyo did not plant roses.

“She won’t follow you, though. Hazuki rather strives for her dream rather than sacrificing it for a guy,” Masato replied.

Which later leading those ‘bachelors’ to launch their immature mission in order to distract Haruka-Tokiya moments.

Their main victim; Tokiya, of course. Because apparently, they could give him a random excuse like;

“It’s not good for you to cling to Nanami/Little Lamb/Haruka too much, Tokiya/Icchi/Ichinose. We don’t want Yachiyo _obachan_ to think that you are impatient.”

“Don’t get mad. We just want to be supportive of your relationship. By how? By keeping your distance from her so that Yachiyo _obachan_ will think that you are such a patient and gentle boyfriend.”

Which of course, sending the idol to roll his eyes.

Be supportive, my foot!

So, at the end, Tokiya had to deal with his friends’ annoying and childish requests to hang out with him including from Masato.

“Come on, Tokiya! Let’s watch Prince of Fighting with me!” Syo insisted while tugging Tokiya’s hand like a child.

“We’ve watched this thirty times already! Can you be more varied? As much as I respect Hyuga sensei, seeing his face now makes me sick!”

From a scaredy-cat like Otoya, it was more sickening.

“ _Ne,_ Tokiya! Let’s watch this movie,” the red head jumped excitedly while holding a horror movie. “Natsuki said, it’s fun!”

“No, don’t want. You will end up hiding behind me or falling asleep. I don’t like to watch horror movie after all.”

“ _Mou,_ that’s mean..”

But from Masato and Ren who act more sensible most of the times, who had thought that their requests fall into the ‘ridiculous department’?

“Ichinose, Yachiyo _obachan_ said that there is a waterfall here! Can we have a look? It’s not that far.”

“No, Hijirikawa-san. The last time we went to waterfall, we were almost caught by a bear. I don’t want to die ridiculously like that.”

“Without roses, I feel so lonely, Icchi.”

“What are you? A butterfly?”    

* * *

 

**At** night, after having dinner and doing their own activities, Syo was about to sit under a mango tree to get some fresh air before his eyes were served with the sight of Tokiya and Haruka, not far from him, sitting on a bench with Tokiya’s head on Haruka’s lap. They obviously had fun just to be around each other.

Syo smiled bitterly as Haruka caressed Tokiya’s midnight blue hair. Her face expression was so delighted, contrasted with the grief-stricken face that they saw when the late Tokiya left her so sudden. Her eyes stared at her boyfriend lovingly, enough to make Syo happy for her as well.

I am glad you are not in pain like before, Nanami.

“Syo-chan!” Natsuki’s bubbly voice greeted him out of the blue.  

“Natsuki..” Syo just acknowledged the big guy’s presence with a small smile.

“Why don’t you join the other guys watching television instead? Is there something wrong?”

“Ehh? Nothing. It just that it feels so cold and refreshing here. I love this place so much.”

“Are you sure? You do have problems though..” As expected, Natsuki would be the first one who could sense his doom and gloom.

Yes, the problems are there but it is not mine to begin with. I am just kinda involved.

“No, I am fine, Natsuki. Don’t worry about me.”

“I know what are you thinking, Syo-chan,” Natsuki smiled as he looked past the yard, towards Haruka and Tokiya. “I used to have that feeling back then. The feeling when I became supportive of Haru-chan and Tokiya-kun but at the same time, it feels sad to see the way Haru-chan takes care of Tokiya-kun. She does look like a good wife, right?”

“Yeah..” Syo replied reluctantly but his roommate could never guess what he was thinking right now.

Natsuki, are you.. perhaps.. still loving Nanami instead of Shibuya?

Syo’s heart suddenly beat fast as it convinced him that all this time, his guess about the late Tokiya’s murderer was correct.

“But, this whole-returned-to-the-past thingy sure promised something for me. I never thought that I would fall in love with Tomo-chan.”

Are you... serious? Do you really love her, Natsuki?

“Natsuki..”

“Yes, Syo-chan.”

“Are you really... I am sorry if it sounds rude but do you.. do you really love Shibuya?”

“Eh?? Of course I am. Why did you ask that?” the way he was shocked with Syo’s random question, it persuaded Syo that Natsuki was being serious about her relationship with Tomochika.

“Nah, nothing. It’s just that.. your relationship with her is kinda sudden and..”

“Syo-chan..” Natsuki cut him short with a compelling smile. “Just like how we used to fall in love with Haru-chan unexpectedly, I also felt the same thing to Tomo-chan. I love her.”

Syo was dumbstruck. He was sure that Natsuki was being honest but for some reasons...

He had a bad feeling about this.

He glanced at Tokiya.

Tokiya, I need to talk to you. I think.. it’s the time already.

* * *

 

**“What** about Tomochika?” He could hear Cecil asked nobody in particular anxiously.

“Haruka is looking for her,” Tokiya’s worried voice hit his ears.

“Obviously she is sad for what happened just now. Poor Shibuya. That bastard.. He shouldn’t be that harsh to her!” Syo bit his lips in anger and fright.

What happened to Tomo-chan? Why is she sad? Who was harsh with Tomo-chan? Natsuki wanted to ask but his head was still spinning which he did not have the slightest idea where did it come from. 

“To be honest, I still cannot accept the truth. It hurts me that he’s the one who killed the late Tokiya,” Otoya commented, not sound nonchalantly as usual. “Syo, why did you hide the truth for such a long time?”

“I am sorry, guys. It’s just that.. Since he is so close to us, I am afraid it will be risky. Plus, I am not really sure about it myself so I needed Tokiya’s help in order to figure out either my guess was right or wrong,” Syo clarified.

“The mystery has been solved but what about him? What should we tell him when he wakes up? I feel sorry to him,” Masato’s voice trembled.

 “Let me explain to him,” Tokiya answered, persuading the others.

Natsuki opened his eyes slowly. His face suddenly felt hurt as his consciousness fully recovered. In front of him, he could see his friends stared at him, as if all of them decided to wait for him to wake up from....

A sleep? Did he sleep just now? No, it couldn’t be. If his memory serves him right, he was having a good time with Tomochika. They sat together in the yard, having a fun conversation about their interest. He excused himself for a while, intended to surprise her with a ring before suddenly, everything turned pitch-black as he headed to his shared bedroom with Syo.

“ _Minnasan,_ how.. what happened?” utter puzzlement was written all over his face. Just then, he realized that he did not wear his glasses but he was still himself. It was supposed to be not a surprise, considering Satsuki, his another personality promised him that he would become one with Natsuki and never showed up.

If it was not because of what happened next.

He looked at each of his teammate’s face. Otoya and Masato had this kind of ‘I can’t believe it was you’ expression. Syo, Cecil and Ren looked glum while Tokiya..

He put on an emotionless face while his blue eyes looked straight at him but it just made the air in the bedroom tense. For the first time, Natsuki could understand what Otoya meant when he said that Tokiya could be that kind of scary when in reality, he just stared at him.

“ _Minnasan_.. please answer me.What gives..”

 “Shinomiya-san...” at last, Tokiya broke the silence, still staring at him. “We just found out the one who killed the late Tokiya.”

“That... that easy? Who is it? Is he someone that we know or.. Haru-chan’s lunatic fan?” he urged in curiousity. Thank God, the mystery had been solved!

“Both.”

“Who is it, Tokiya-kun?”

Again, a downright silence.

“Shinomiya-san...” Tokiya put his hands on the broad shoulders, indirectly telling him to take it easy. “It’s Satsuki.”

Natsuki’s green eyes quickly widened in horror.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, just a short chapter this time! The reason why the mentioned guy murdered Tokiya will be revealed in next chapter but I guess if you know why he existed in the first place, you might already have idea why he did that. Ja, matta ne!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satsuki's confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to to the Kudos andddd.... srstamn-san, thank you for your comment! I just got another reader.. congrats to myself! *mentally patting my back XD

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**About** an hour ago...

After finished having a chit-chat with Natsuki, Syo dragged his feet into his shared room with Natsuki before throwing himself onto the bed.

Something occured to him.

"What's going to happen to us after this? Is the principal really that persistent to expel us permanently? How about STARISH?"

"Syo-chan.." Natsuki came out of nowhere, startled the small boy. "Are you going to sleep?"

"Obviously."

Despite Syo's answer, Natsuki took a seat on Syo's bed, much to the small boy's puzzlement.

" _Ne,_  Syo-chan. I was thinking.. the three girls who attacked Haru-chan last time... they are not the same person who sent pictures of Tokiya-kun and Haru-chan to the teachers, right?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Syo was this close to ask 'how did you know?'.

"I saw the way Tokiya-kun looked at them when he asked them. It seems like Tokiya-kun somehow could solve the puzzle right? Did he tell you anything?"

"N..no.." Syo tried to remain calm as he tried to keep the white lie. He promised the blue head to keep whatever clues they got so far from the others until they could find the culprit but...

"You are trembling, Syo. It seems like you have found out the truth, huh?" a cold voice that Syo wished he never heard the most right now suddenly echoed in his ears.

He did not even have time to react when suddenly, he was pushed against the mattress by an insanely strong energy. He wanted to scream but a big hand quickly closed his mouth.

Satsuki! His mind screamed in horror as his eyes met a pair of intimidating green eyes. The eyes that always looked at him in delight now turned vice versa.

It looked like he was determined to kill the much smaller boy.

Syo struggled to save himself but his attempt just made Satsuki applied more energy to restrain his move.

"Not so fast, Syo. Not after you will give the game away to Tokiya.." Satsuki smirked deviously as his hand reached a baseball bat which he could reach conveniently, much to Syo's alarm. "Logically speaking, you will tell everyone because that's just your nature for not being a scaredy-cat but I will never let it happen. I will kill Tokiya but first of all, you.."

His hand suddenly strangled Syo, much to his roommate's pain. Syo could feel his chest tighten as his breath became shorter.

No, I don't want to die! Not in my own best friend's hand... What will Natsuki feel if...

"Shinomiya-san, what are you doing?" a soft but trembling voice managed to rescue Syo as Satsuki immediately loosened his stranglehold.

Both Syo and Satsuki looked at the door. Tokiya and Haruka were staring at them in disbelief.

"Ah-ha, the bastard and Haru-chan are right here. Finally we can solve this mano-a-mano, Tokiya."

"What? What do you mean, Shinomiya..." his blue orbs widened as he finally got the picture. "No, you are not Shinomiya-san. You are..."

Tokiya's heart beat fast as he met the maniac-looking eyes. It was polar opposite with the bubbly and warm look that Natsuki always gave him.

"I can't stand to see Natsuki doing whatever he wants. That pretentious jerk..." Satsuki obviously disgusted with his other self. Compared to the last time since Tokiya met Satsuki, this guy looked much more maniacal. Tokiya would not be surprised if Satsuki was determined to kill everyone tonight. "Since you are here when I am trying to kill this idiot, I might as well, after this, starting from here..." Satsuki pointed the baseball bat in his hand to Tokiya's ankle, up to his body. "Uuuppp until here..." the object was now on Tokiya's temple. "I will beat hell out of you, just like how I killed the future you and how I made Haruka mourned for your pathetic death."

Haruka and Tokiya gasped in shock upon learning the devastating truth.

Haruka felt her head spinning as her memory immediately served the scene of Tokiya, hit by the lunatic who had destroyed her life. After all this time, she assumed the bastard had some kind of mental disorder because the way he killed Tokiya was way too callous.

She was right about the mental disorder part but...

It never crossed her mind that the guy who she despised so much for killing her husband is Natsuki or to be exact, Satsuki himself. All this time, the criminal was always there with her.

"This is a lame joke, Satsuki. Way too lame," Tokiya was in disbelief. He really hoped that Satsuki was lying even though the fact that this guy popped out itself was not a joke. Satsuki would appear when Natsuki suffered inside so could it mean...

"Tokiya, Nanami, what gives?" Otoya's anxious voice broke the tense atmosphere. Behind the red head, the other STARISH members were also there and just like Tokiya, they gasped in shock to see the state of affairs.

"What... what happened?" to see that Syo was catching his breath while he was still being held by Satsuki and crying Haruka, Otoya could only let out a question.

"Please let him go, Satsuki.. I beg you.. Please don't hurt him," Tokiya's plead only gained himself a strong glare from Satsuki but he did not care. If something happened to Syo, it would be the end of the world for him.

"Or else?" Satsuki strongly swayed the bat before hitting Syo, right on his stomach. It was enough for Syo to scream in pain while the the others almost lost his breath.

"Let him go, Satsuki!" Ren yelled as his anger got the better of him.

"Don't worry... I will never kill this brat because my target.." his smile turned creepy as he stared at Tokiya intently. "Is always this bastard. I always.. I always want to kill him..."

"What happened to Natsuki-kun? Why did he change suddenly like that?" Yachiyo asked Tomochika softly. Natsuki that she knew is a gentle boy who enjoys learning new recipes with her.

Not this kind of guy.

" _Obachan_ , to tell you the truth.. Natsuki has a split personality disorder and this is his other self."

"Are you talking about me, you bitch?" he suddenly pointed the baseball bat towards Tomochika's face. "Still enjoying yourself being his girlfriend? You know what? Everytime Natsuki says that he loves you, I really want to hit you, you bitch! You ruined everything! Natsuki doesn't love you! He loves this annoying chick. That's why I killed Tokiya in the first place!"

All eyes widened in shock. They immediately knew where this confrontation would go.

"Satsuki.. you.." Otoya pointed his shaking index finger to the big guy. He was struggling with sorrow and anger. His red eyes broke into tears as he just learned that his bestfriend was killed by his other friend.

How were they supposed to accept this painful truth?

"Yes, I am the one who killed Tokiya that night. I am the one who smashed him so that this chick...!" his voice got louder as he spit each word while staring at Haruka like a demon. "This retarded chick would feel how does it feel when you lose your object of affection, crush or whatever you call it! I killed her beloved husband because Natsuki still loves this chick so, no one can have this chick if Natsuki can't get her!"

"Satsuki, you asshole!" Cecil shouted furiously. He did not even care about the possibility to be attacked by Satsuki anymore.

"Even Shinomi does love this girl, it doesn't make you right to become a killer, you madman!" Ren also lost his calmness and controlled himself from punching Satsuki.

"But killing Tokiya is the only way for Natsuki to stop suffering and that's what my existence for. I would not let Natsuki suffering while these love birds could all be lovey – dovey, did not care about how other guys's broken hearts. What's so special about a guy who has a short life span anyway, you chick!? He is meant to die for a start so all you have to do is moving on from him and choose Natsuki! Is that hard to do!? Natsuki loves you so much but you just acted ignorant and still chose this idot!"

"Shut your frigging mouth up, you murderer!" it was Masato's turn to lose his temper.

"Call me murderer, madman or whatever you want but..." he smirked as he looked at each soul in the room. "You guys should thank me sometimes."

"What?" Syo could not help from asking.

Satsuki continued smirking before glowering at Syo. "You, midget.. Stop acting tough already when in fact, the night after their wedding, you drank too much out of frustration and Natsuki was the one who cleaned after you. Just admit that the reason you are still single until now is because you still love that chick."

"What?" Syo's ashen face already suggested the truth behind Satsuki's word. When Syo did not have time to react and defend himself, Satsuki already drew his attention to Ren and Masato.

"These two morons..." Satsuki chuckled "To be honest, when I am a murderer, I still pity your partners. It's hard to move on and simply accept a random girl into your life when you were totally besotted your friend's girl, right? What are their names again? Maaya and Shizuka, right? Luckily, that Agnapolis guy brought you all to the past so that you guys could start over and finally could reciprocate their feelings. Or else, you would be trapped in your own frustration."

"You, the sunshine or any shits they call you.." he pointed to Otoya. "I bet you would be in tougher situation, considering for the start, you were the one who were always there beside that bitch. You need her attention but all she did was choosing your roommate, your bloody bestfriend! Hahahahahha. I know from the start that a sunshine like you would be that pathetic because a nice guy like you always got dumped at the end over his much cooler bestfriend even his personality is not even nicer than you. Thank goodness now, you finally have your own girl. "

His next target is Cecil. "You sure are persistent and love your friends so much, right? You went all out, using your absurd magic to bring all of them into the past.. that's very nice of you but you know what? I hate you, son of a bitch! You ruined my plan! You ruined everything!"

"And Natsuki..." a bitter smile crept over his face and nobody could tell either it was a sympathy or an insult to the mentioned guy. "At last, he picked this chick's best friend.. Tomochika, right? I tell you what. As someone who lives in his body, I don't believe when Natsuki said he truly loves the girl. In fact, I think he just made her as a filler so that you know.. Natsuki could get a bit aura of his beloved Haruka from the chick. He was all  _genki_  in front of you, being annoying as always when in fact, he suffered a great pain for unrequited love. I can't stand to see him all broken again so I thought this time around, I will reappear and try to kill this moron again. I will never allow Nanami Haruka reunite with her beloved husband."

Tomochika clutched her chest as she heard the word 'filler'.

She is a filler for Haruka? Her own best friend?

Why wouldn't she never think about that? Satsuki's assumption was possible, though. The fact that Natsuki fell in love with her was way too easy and fast, not to mention, according to some people..

It was random and baseless. She and Natsuki were so used to be labelled as unmatched and instant couple by their schoolmates but the future idol ignored them but now..

She suddenly felt that their claim is reasonable once she heard the word 'filler'.

She could not stand this!

Tomochika stormed away, bringing along her broken heart.

"Tomo-chan!" Haruka and Yachiyo called out her name in unison but Tomochika was too devastated to need anyone beside her. She needed to be alone.

"That chick finally learn a truth, huh? Poor her.." Satsuki mocked.

"You don't have to be that harsh, you know!? Shibuya is sincere about her relationship with Shinomiya. Just knocked it off already!" Masato yelled.

"But not Natsuki. Natsuki doesn't love her so all I did was knocking some sense into her so that she will leave Natsuki. Now, my mission to get rid of the bitch is done and that leaves.." He suddenly raised the baseball bat as his green eyes looked daggers at Tokiya. "You, bastard.."

"Don't you ever, Satsuki.." Ren warned as Satsuki still looked at Tokiya while slowly approaching the blue head.

"Touch him or you will die, Satsuki.." Masato remarked.

"Please don't, Satsuki-san.. I beg you.." Haruka pleaded but to no avail. To see how much they love Tokiya somehow brought an entertainment for the madman to mess Tokiya up.

Unlike the others who were neurotic, Tokiya instead was ready to beat Satsuki.

"So, you are here to kill me again?" Tokiya's ludicrously calm voice drew their attention. "The one who sent our pictures to the teacher, the hit-and-run when Shinomiya-san was supposed to take Shibuya-san out for a date is you, right?"

Everybody gasped at the assumption.

"Yes, I am."

"And it's all for the sake of destroying me?"

"Obviously."

"Even Shinomiya-san absolutely did not approve it?" Tokiya chuckled, suggesting that he took the mickey out of Satsuki.

"Of course he didn't approve it, you bastard! He is just like this dude.." Satsuki pointed towards Otoya. "Too selfless! They both prioritize the others even at the end, they did not get anything at all! Just tell me! What did he get from helping you to confess to this chick!? What did he get from being your friend!? Nothing because as long as you are there, this chick will never look at Natsuki and that's why, I killed you, Tokiya! Without you, everything would be fine!"

"Then, your big speech about being a hero to Shinomiya-san is all nonsense."

"What?"

"Just so you know, I know all of us loved the same girl. I could feel all of them were so caring about Haruka and you know what? If I were to die again in your hand, I still can rest in peace because I know, every single one of them will take care of Haruka well including Shinomiya-san and that's what makes these guys a hero while you? You are just a bloody murderer who have a mental problem, temper issue and you know what is the worst thing? If Shinomiya-san learned about your barbaric wrongdoing, I think he will suffer much worse than you can imagine."

Tokiya's words hit Satsuki like a school bus. The thought of Natsuki would suffer more already tortured his mind.

"Tokiya's right," Syo added, finally able to breathe properly. "You think that just because you are the split personality of Natsuki, you are the one who understands him the most when in fact, Natsuki is way more kind-hearted than you. Yes, I can't deny that Natsuki was just as heart-broken as me when Nanami decided to marry Tokiya but he still prayed for their happiness. Natsuki is not as weak as you think!"

"You don't even know what Natsuki truly needs and you call yourself as Natsuki's guardian or something? Shame on you," Cecil mocked,unable to control his anger.

"If Shinomiya learned about something despicable like this and he atones for the sin that he never commit, you are the one who should be blamed at. Not Nanami for choosing Ichinose in the first place," Masato threw a merciless comment.

While Satsuki remained speechless on his spot, Haruka slowly stepped forward, approaching him.

"Haruka,where are you going?" Tokiya grabbed her hand but she loosened his grip.

It was still silent until...

She smiled way too chummy to Satsuki, the one who she resent all this time for killing her husband.

"Thank you, Satsuki-san."

"What?" the simple but sincere remark provoked the violent guy but Haruka did not feel intimidated. Instead, she continued meeting his green eyes. "Are you insulting me, you bitch?"

"You can think whatever you want but still.. thank you for making me realized something that I should from the beginning. That was stupid of me because the one who actually killed my husband is me."

"Nanami, what nonsense are you talking about?" Syo withheld himself from scolding her.

"You guys confessed your love to me but I chose Tokiya-kun without hesitation. I really love him so all I thought about was I would never let him go. I never thought that it would cause that much pain to the rest of you guys. I thought that you guys would finally move on.."

"Nanami, this is not your fault. Logically speaking, that was bound to happen. It is impossible for you to choose all of us," Masato tried to calm her down since to see her put the blame on herself was the last thing that he wanted to see.

"That's true, Lady. How deep our feelings to you back then is solely our problem. It doesn't have anything to do with you. We sincerely want you to be happy with Icchi.." Ren was also slightly panicky because really... it really broke his heart to see Haruka blaming herself.

"After all, some of us had already moving on, Nanami. This whole returning to the past had changed us. We finally found our true loves that we never realized before," Otoya agreed.

"But still!" the composer shouted in despair. "All of this happened because of me and you guys know how nice Shinomiya-san is, right? He prioritizes our happiness over his own but if Satsuki-san suddenly showed up like this, does it mean Shinomiya-san is really hurt inside? I was so ignorant about what you guys felt until.. my husband is dead and... Shinomiya san became like this.."

She suddenly stood up and bowed. "I am sorry,  _minnasan._  Please forgive me.."

"Haruka, please don't say that.." Cecil tried to comfort her but the rosette softly refused.

"I am truly sorry... it was all because of me.."

The sight of her sought for their apology melted the icy and evil heart of Satsuki. His heart sank. He was well-informed that this Nanami Haruka is always soft-hearted and fragile but he never thought that..

She was so fragile to the point of blaming herself for this commotion.

His mind suddenly looked back when he killed Tokiya. He did not want to end anyone's life to begin with. His true intention was he wanted to kidnap Haruka and make her as Natsuki's but he was provoked by Tokiya's persistence to protect her. His grudge against Tokiya which had lasted such a long time got the best of him at that night.

His whole body froze as she approached him with a sad smile.

"You know what? I used to swear to myself, if I had ever met the one who killed my husband, the one who beat him when he tried so hard to protect me, I would kill him. I would make him know how does it feel when he ruined my life, my Tokiya..." her body was shaking terribly as she recalled how Tokiya suffered until his last breath. "I.. I really want to ask that bastard... what did he feel when he crashed our car when Tokiya-kun was supposed to surprise me on my birthday? While I was supposed to tell him about our child... his child that he waited for so long.... that he almost gave up because of his constitution... he could not make it... Tokiya-kun never knew it... My husband never learned about it but I guess.. when I heard the confession from the murderer himself, it did make sense..."

"Haruka, please pull yourself together," Tokiya could not watch this situation any longer but as persistent as Haruka could be, she completely ignored him.

"When Tokiya-kun insisted to protect me, I just could not imagine how painful it was for him to protect me... Until now, it made me so devastated because his life ended that way. He still had more dreams that he wanted to strive. Apparently, that was the price he had to pay for being the man that I love. Had I ever expected about this earlier, I would rather be alone for the sake of him.. for the sake of everyone..."

The whole room turned to a depressing and gloomy space. All of them froze, being traumatic as they recalled the dead body of Tokiya. It was full of bruises and gashes while his body was not in a perfect shape as most of the parts were severely broken.

While Tokiya.... He could not help but falling in love with her more than he should. Seeing how tough for her to surpress her sadness was so heart-rending to watch.

"So, thank you, Satsuki-san. You just made me realized that all this time, I just made Shinomiya-san as a murderer to his friend! Thank you and I am really sorry, Satsuki-san," she stormed out from the room, much to the others' shock.

Her confession just made the other souls discontented. They did not really know what they should say except Tokiya who kept his eyes on Satsuki since God knows how long.

"You love her, Satsuki."

"What?" Satsuki's eyes widened in horror. Compared to the moment when everybody knew the truth about his murder, the violent guy looked more terrified as he was seen through by no other than Tokiya.

"It broke your heart to see her begging for your apology when the real culprit is you. You did not want to hurt her in the first place. You just want to see her happy with Shinomiya-san but at the same time, you did not realize that your violent act was the result of your feeling to her."

Satsuki was dumbstruck as each word stabbed him.

"You really care about Shinomiya-san, right? I bet in your head right now, you dont' want Shinomiya-san to know about this. How about we make a deal? We will never tell him about YOU being the culprit while you promise us that you will never appear again," Tokiya tried to negotiate with Satsuki as he was positive that the problematic guy would never hurt anybody anymore.

"What nonsense..."

"It's all for Shinomiya-san," the blue head said nonchalantly but his calmness triggered the big guy more. "Just be grateful that we give this chance to you.You did not only ruin Tokiya but also Shinomiya-san and Haruka, those people that you care the most.. please always remember that," Tokiya's expression turned cold as he signaled the others to leave the room, letting Satsuki to consider the deal.

"Tokiya/Ichinose/Icchi?" all eyes with different colors looked at the said person, asking for an explaination.

"That's enough. I think Satsuki already changed. He was not in his right mind. Don't you think so, Syo?" his blue eyes met Syo.

"Eh? Yes, yes.."

"Are you okay, Syo?" Otoya asked out of concern as he scanned Syo's red neck.

"Yeah, I am okay."

"I think you guys should sleep already.  _Obachan_ , I am sorry for the incovenience. We never thought that the culprit would reveal himself here."

"It's okay, Tokiya-kun," Yachiyo smiled.

"But, Tokiya, where are you heading?" Otoya asked as Tokiya left them.

"Looking for Haruka," the blue head quickly disappeared from their sights.

"I never thought that you guys came from the past. When Tokiya-kun told me about this, I was so surprised."

It took a while for them to absorb the truth that Yachiyo already knew where did they come from.

"Ehhh??"

* * *

 

**Tokiya**  was totally busy tonight even he was supposed to be the 'victim' that they all used to mourn for. He dealt with Satsuki like a final boss in a horror game and now...

He needed to comfort his girlfriend, the one who suffered the most all this time.

"I am sorry, Tokiya-kun.." he stopped himself from approaching her. "Because of me.. it all happened because of me. Our child.." she stroked her flat stomach in regret, which tore his heart more. "Our child is also dead because of me. I am sorry."

"Our child is not dead because of you."

Haruka startled before meeting her golden orbs with Tokiya's affectionate smile.

"No matter what happen, I will always protect you because I love you, Haruka."

It felt like she was seeing the late Tokiya, smiling lovingly at her.

"But.."

Tokiya stroked her hair lovingly as he took a seat on a bench, next to Haruka. "I think that is what the future me will say to you. On behalf of the late Tokiya, I beg you, please don't feel so painful about something that was out of your power because I believe, the moment he protected you and let himself got killed instead, he just wanted you to keep alive. He wanted you to keep hammering away at your dream, composing a good music for the world. You mean everything to him so he did not want to lose you. Again, I tell you, you don't need to bear the pain anymore because.. it hurts me to see you suffer like this, Haruka."

Her tears strolled down her cheeks.

"But, he sacrificed his life for me."

"And that's what a husband means to his wife. To be her shield. To prioritize her life over everything."

Tokiya's calm words sent the rosette dumbstruck.

"It's easy for you to say that when I used to suffer from a great loss of you."

"But the reason why you and others returned to your past is to erase all the bitter memory, the great loss and instead, you want to create more beautiful memories with me, right?"

Haruka was speechless.

"You came here, to see the younger version of me because you want to change your past and changing your past means you will forget all that happened before including the fact that I was dead from being killed, right?"

She nodded slowly, unable to meet his eyes when she felt the urge to cry again.

It has been a long time since she got melancholic like this because so far, Tokiya and her had created many nice memories together.

"So, please, forget about all those bitter memories. I am not going to be dead because of a car accident nor being murdered viciously by our friend, okay? So dear Haruka's rock head, please be nice to her and makes her forget totally about her pain. I want her to lead a happy life."

"If that's what you asked me, I will forget about it, Tokiya-kun," she suddenly jumped into his hug, sending both of them lying on the ground before they heard a soft gasp from somewhere.

"Who is.." both blue eyes and golden eyes widened in embarrassement as Yachiyo froze on her spot.

" _Obachan_?" Haruka quickly stood away from Tokiya.

"I am sorry, Haru-chan. I just want to see either you are still crying or not. But.." obviously, Yachiyo was surprised to see the jumping scene but she decided to not make it a big deal. "It's okay. You can continue. Excuse me."

"Continue with what?  _Obachan_ , that's not what you think!" Haruka screamed in desperation but Yachiyo just ignored her. Instead, she walked away too fast, not matching her old age.

"I told you to be careful when the others are still around," Tokiya's stern voice contrasted his red face.

"Sorryyyy," she just smiled sheepishly.

It seemed like she would give Yachiyo a long explanation about this.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for chapter 23! I am sorry if this chapter lacks something that.. I don't know.. Satsuki is the one who killed Tokiya which led to this return-to-the-past-thingy so the final encounter with him should give more impact like how you saw in other stories when they found out who is the main culprit but I guess, my mind is too tired from working to the point of I could not brainstorm more interesting idea for this chapter. Nevertheless, please let me know what do you think about this chapter, okay? Ja, matta nee!


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road to our debut..

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA**

 

**“What** do you think, Tokiya?” the first question came from Cecil right after all STARISH members except Syo and Natsuki met in Tokiya and Otoya’s shared bedroom, discussing about Natsuki.

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Tokiya replied softly.

“Is it because you already forgave Satsuki?” Masato’s sharp guess sent the others in shock. All of them looked at Tokiya, obviously seeking for a reasonable reason.

“You are as sharp as always, Hijirikawa-san.”

 “But, why, Tokiya? Satsuki killed _you_...” even with the Sunshine title on his head, Otoya still could not forgive Satsuki that easily.

“He just provided the cause of my death, Otoya. Guys, no matter how hard it is, in our life, we cannot escape from the fate and that was my fate. I will die early.”

“Yeah, you will die early..” Cecil muttered in dissatisfaction but Tokiya just ignored it. It was not the right time for him to feel concerned about it.

“Well, Icchi is right. Shinomi is such a sweet guy. No matter how much he used to love Lady, he never wished for any of us to die in his hand,” Ren commented, gaining himself strong nods from his friends.

“I think that Satsuki has a lot in his mind. He dealt with Shinomiya-san’s feeling to Haruka, Shinomiya-san’s frustration and how he finally loved Shibuya-san.. He also killed the future me because he also loves Haruka so much. He needed to deal all those inner conflicts which made him turned more violent. He is totally opposite with Shinomiya-san, remember? While Shinomiya-san is more rational when it comes to his anger issue, Satsuki believes that violence will settle everything real fast.”

“Waaa, so sharp..” Otoya exclaimed.

“What’s Shinomiya-san doing right now?” Tokiya met eyes with Syo.

  “I don’t know. He did not come back to our room for the whole night. This morning, he totally ignored me,” Syo explained “That rang me a bell. Hey, Tokiya, you promised to Satsuki that you would never tell Natsuki about the murder but.. Why did you break it? Why did you still tell Natsuki?”

“It’s because if we did not promise him something related to Shinomiya-san, he would never spare our life and who knows what he might do. If he sees it by himself how Shinomiya-san suffers because of him, somehow, Satsuki will most probably never show up again. Afterall, we have Shibuya-san here.”

They nodded as they fathomed him.

 “But this Satsuki guy sure is stupid, right? How come he could not think that whatever he did would effect Natsuki as well?” Otoya asked.

“Anyone can be stupid for the sake of the one he cares the most,” as Cecil casually let out his words, there was someone felt like he was being slapped.

Touche, Tokiya mentally exclaimed.

“Tomo-chan, please don’t be like this! Please don’t leave me,” on the spur of the moment, they could hear Haruka, pleading with Tomochika. They quickly left the room before stopping in the middle of the corridor.

“Ehh, Tomo-chan? Are you going back already?” Yachiyo asked as she  just showed up from the kitchen .

“I am sorry, Haruka, _obachan._ I need to be alone so that...” the long-haired girl suddenly stopped talking as she bumped into Natsuki who was also in the same state as her, all properly dressed up with a luggage in their hand.

“Oi, Natsuki! Where the hell are you going!?” Syo was about to approach his roommate when suddenly, Tokiya pulled both him and Haruka closer to him.

“Oi, Tokiya! What the hell!? Let me go!”

“ _Ne,_ Tokiya-kun. Please let me go. I have to persuade Tomo-chan. She has been so sad about what Satsuki told us last night..” Haruka insisted.

“You guys really can’t read the mood, can’t you?” the blue head pointed at Natsuki and Tomochika who now stood opposite to each other, seemingly stammered.

Both of them had a hurt look in their eyes. Something that was new for everyone who knows them but anybody also could tell that...

They were deeply in love with each other. It was obvious that they truly refused to let the other person to leave them.

 “You.. Tomo-chan, you also want to go back to your hometown?” Natsuki asked.

“Em.. yes..”

“Then, have a safe trip.. I wish you... all the best..”

Tomochika lifted her head to match Natsuki’s eye level “Do you also want to...”

“Yes.. I think it’s the best way for both of us..”

“Yes, I.. I do think that we should break up... afterall, people always say that we don’t suit each other, right?” as she tried to light up the mood, tears started to stream down Tomochika’s flawless cheeks, much to the other’s shock.

Who would think that Natsuki and Tomochika who are always upbeat and optimistic could be this fragile when it comes to someone that they truly love?

 “You guys do love each other, though. That’s more important,” Tokiya suddenly threw a blunt comment, much to the other souls’ shock.

Everybody looked at him, indirectly suggesting that he was the one who could not read the mood.

“What? They are about to break up.What else are we waiting for?” Tokiya stubbornly and shamelessly stood for his opinion.

“Tokiya-kun, you guys..” Natsuki approached Tokiya yet he was too ashamed to meet his eyes. “I.. I am sorry for what I have done to you. I.. I will quit singing. I won’t be part of STARISH anymore.”

“Ehhhhhh??” they could not help but screaming dramatically.

“Natsuki, are you crazy!?” Otoya and Cecil suddenly became a twin, saying the same line in unison.

“Shinomi, we cannot just let you quit like that. You are part of us,” Ren convinced as everybody would feel that it would not be the same without Natsuki.

“He’s right, Shinomiya. What makes you think that leaving STARISH will make everything fine? It will be worse, you know,” Masato added.

“Natsuki, even all this time, you are soooo annoying, forcing me to cross-dress, forcing me to come to your stupid Piyo-chan show, feeding me your sinister cookies but...” before anybody noticing, Syo was already crying even he tried so hard to act manly. “It’ll be lonely without you, Natsuki! Please, don’t leave us!”

Silence.

Even Natsuki also did not mutter ‘Syo-chan’ like the usual him.

“Oi, don’t just be awkward like that! You guys are supposed to continue begging him to not leave us!”

“Er..” the others suddenly flinched at Syo’s desperate shout.

“Yeah, you are right. We are supposed to plead with Shinomi, right?” it sounded like a stupid question came out from Ren’s mouth but soon, Syo knew why.

“We are sorry, Syo. It’s just that it was such a horror to hear that you literally begged Shinomiya-san to continue forcing you to cross-dress, watched Piyo-chan show with him and serve you his cooking... Do you want to commit a suicide that bad?” Tokiya commented, gaining himself a threatening glower from the shorter boy.

 “That’s not what I meant!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tokiya’s cheeky face suddenly turned warm upon meeting Natsuki’s eyes. “Do you hear them? We all need you, Shinomiya-san. STARISH will be TARISH without you and you know how terrible it sounds right?”

“But.. I still cannot forgive myself for what I have done to you...”

“You mean, for what Satsuki has done to me.”

“But he did that because of me. I was the source of the problem. He did it because he knew just how frustrated I was when Haru-chan decided to choose you in the future..”

“But now you love Shibuya-san. She is the one who is important to you right now. Now, tell me why did you decide to break up with her?”

“It’s because Sat-chan was right. Maybe I still held a grudge against you and Haru-chan, seeing that you guys are so happy together...”

“Then, I will help you. Put your hand on your chest like this,” the blue head suddenly grabbed Natsuki’s hand before sticking it to Natsuki’s broad chest.

“Tokiya-kun, what are you..”

“Now, I will give you a bunch of questions about you and Shibuya-san. You don’t need to answer me out loud. Just answer it in your head, okay?”

“Okay,” the green eyes turned wider as he realized what was Tokiya planning to do.

As for Haruka, one of the most wonderful memories in her life crossed her mind out of the blue.

It was when Tokiya helped her choosing one person out of STARISH members to be her boyfriend.

Without having any idea that the chosen guy is him.

“Good. First question.. When you see her, do you feel like... ah, it is not about her adorableness that makes you feel warm but her presence alone is enough to make you think that whatever problems you go through, you think you can surpass it?”

Natsuki quickly turned to Tomochika while staring at her lovingly.

 “Do you feel like. this girl.. I want to make her mine. I don’t want to lose her to somebody else.”

Yes. He really wants Tomochika to stay by his side.

 “But at the same time, you feel like, this wonderful girl.. I don’t deserve her. She deserves somebody better than me.. I am nothing compared to her..”

Yes, she deserves someone better than him. At least, someone who did not suffer from a split personality disorder like him. 

“Next question, these days, you think that her happiness is your happiness. And to make her smiles, you will do anything to make her smiles because she used to say that your happiness is her happiness too. Am I right?”

Yes, that was what they said to each other.

“Your happiness is also my happiness.”

Natsuki suddenly turned to Tomochika.

“I love you, Tomo-chan. Please stay by my side. Please don’t leave me,” he bowed to her sincerely. He really did not want to lose her.

Everyone stared at Tomochika, expecting a positive answer before she gradually smiled and nodded.

“I love you too, Natsuki.”

And as dramatic as the others were, they gave a big hand like they were in the midst of party.

“Plus, _minnasan_! I have a good news for us!” Tokiya suddenly shouted while grinning. “Saotome-san... I mean our BELOVED principal contacted me this morning and with the opinions from other teachers, they decided to lift the love rule andd..  We can go back to school tomorrow!”

“Are you serious, Tokiya?” Otoya’s crimson eyes looked brighter and Tokiya swore, it just made his eyes hurt due to the excessive sparkles.

“Otoya, stop emitting those weird sparkles! What are you? Ultraman?”

“Our hard work paid off!” Syo raised his fist.

“Yeayy, we are going to debut!” they almost shouted in unison while Tomochika, Haruka and Yachiyo could not control their thrilled smiles.

“Did you just say the principal wants us back, Ichinose?” for the first time in everyone’s life, Masato reacted to something unexpected weirdly by showing his almost-cried look.

“Who are you?” Masato gained himself a horror-struck reaction from every single soul in the house including Yachiyo.

“I am sorry. It just that I can’t believe that our hard work paid off..” out of nowhere, a drop of fake tear streamed down his pale-skinned cheek.

“Hijirikawa, being suddenly dramatic like that, you sure are the _okachan_ of STARISH,” Ren commented with a poker face but it still managed to get under Masato’s skin.

“Shut up!”

“That made you returned to normal.”

“But Tokiya-kun, I want to ask you something,” Haruka suddenly put her hand up like an elementary school pupil.

“Sure. What is it?”

“This is just a hunch but is the reason why you were so brave in fighting against the rule is you already expected a good response from the principal?”

Silence.

“Yeah, come to think of it, Icchi is quite close with the principal. He sure knows more about the principal’s tolerance,” Ren’s inference made the others glowered at Tokiya who suddenly felt guilty even he was positive that he has been heroic for being the first person to fight for idols’ right so that they would be allowed to be in a relationship.

“Ahh, your kiss with Haruka! Now it did make sense why you did that right in front of the CCTV! You just wanted to prove to principal that you are being serious!” Cecil shouted so loud, totally forgetting that the last person that Haruka and Tokiya wanted her to know about the cheesy kissing scene aka Yachiyo was just there.

Especially when Yachiyo just witnessed the jumping scene last night, the couple just did not want her to be shocked any further.

“You jerk!” much to the blue head’s surprise, before he could curse Cecil, he was the one who had been thrown with that particular swear.

“You said to me that after this, no more secret plan!” Syo had Tokiya in a headlock as his irritation got the best of him. “You cunning bastard!”

“Syo, I.. I can’t breath!”

“Thank you, Tokiya-kun!! You are a lifesaver indeed! Let me hug you!” Natsuki turned to his idiotic mood again before trapping Tokiya into his hug.

“Waaa,Shinomiya-san! You have Shibuya-san already. Please hug her instead of me!”

“But you are the reason why we can finally debut and be in a relationship at the same time!”

In the midst of the chaos, almost everyone in the house thought about the same thing.

About how much Tokiya has changed into the most caring friend that they could ask.

* * *

 

**Eventually,** it was their debut night.

Somewhere in Hayato’s former talent agency building...

“Tell Hayato.. I mean.. Tokiya that I said hello.”

“Well.. you can be at ease.. He is doing very best.”

“I’ll see him soon.. at one of his concerts. Please reserve me a good seat.”

“Aye-aye, sir!”

Seichiro smiled as he hung up. He believed in Shining Saotome. Seeing how Hayato or Tokiya was no longer the bright idol who is passionate about music once he was tortured by Megumi, the legendary singer knew that he had made the right decision to let go of Tokiya.

Meanwhile, back to STARISH...

“Even it was a second debut, I still feel nervous,” Syo rubbed both his palms nervously.

“Just be cool, _Ochibi-chan._ Can you hear the crowd? They are cheering us so all we need to do is be chillax.”

“Look who’s talking. Your lips is all purple,” Masato’s nonchalant remark sent the others laughing.

“But seriously, I mean.. are you guys seriously nervous right now?” Tokiya asked carefully, considering his friends looked all over the place. Cecil and Otoya even started to dance to the Muse in the background, praying that their performance would be guided by the goddess of music.

“Of course, Tokiya-kun! This is our debut. Of course we are nervous,” Natsuki tried to convince the blue head but it turned out vice versa.

“But this will be your second debut. You just made me ashamed of myself because I don’t look as nervous as you guys right now.”

“Yeah, you are right. You are supposed to be nervous too, Ichinose,” Masato’s stern look threatened his ‘twin’ to feel the nervousness.

“I am but at least, I don’t do a random dance like certain person...”

“Hey, don’t insult my way of praying!” Cecil remarked angrily.

“ _Ma, ma,_ don’t fight again, guys. Instead, let’s make a circle!” Otoya quickly pulled both Masato and Syo so that they would form a group hug.

A silence.

“What should we do next? Somebody, please say something already!” Syo demanded.

“Tokiya-kun, why don’t you lead the cheer?” Natsuki suggested.

“Eh, me?”

The other six smiled at each other, much to Tokiya’s bewilderment.

“You should be the one who sets the goals for us, Ichinose. After our debut, we will go through a lot of experiences.. a lot of things that we used to see as a dream..” Masato added.

“After all, this is also your second debut, right, Icchi? Finally you can debut as yourself so the honour is all yours,” Ren remarked.

No words could describe how Tokiya was grateful to meet this dorkies..

And Haruka. 

“You asked us why we are still nervous about the debut, right, Tokiya?” Otoya remarked. “It’s because you are here.”

Now, it suddenly turned dramatic... for the nth time.

“It feels like a dream, right? To be here again, on the same stage, seven of us..” Cecil added.

“Thanks, Aijima-san. If it’s not because of you..”

“Yeah, Tokiya is right. Cecil is the major contributor despite of his dorkiness..”

“Oh, come on, Tokiya, Syo. Can you guys just praise me properly without scoffing?”

“It will be hard to do, though,” the said members answered spontaneously. 

“Then, Tokiya-kun, _onegaishimasu_ ,” Natsuki patted the blue head’s back.

“Okay. After debut, we will aim for UTAPRI award, Triple S opening artist andddd..

“Hollywood debut!! ” they shouted together.

“We have strived so many things just to be here so no matter what happen, please bear in your mind that STARISH will win it together!”

A silence.

“It’s too text book, right?” Ren casually voiced out everyone’s thought.

“That’s so lame, Tokiyaaaa,” Otoya exclaimed.

“I am terrible with things like this so please don’t put it that way, Otoya, Ren,” Tokiya mumbled, struggling to not punch those two for being rudely blunt. “Okay, now, put your hands together... STARISH..

“ Fighting!!”

* * *

 

**Haruka** was there, waiting for each of STARISH member to give a high five to her.

Tonight, they would sing Maji Love 1000% again.

As she could see a red head got nearer to her, the composer raised up her small hands.

Otoya... Masato... Ren.. Syo... Natsuki.... Cecil...

And lastly...

“I don’t want a high-five.”

“Eh?” Haruka titled her head in confusion as she heard his remark.

Instead, Tokiya, with his debut custom, trapping her in his embrace.

“Charging time.”

She closed her eyes, enjoying his warmth until...

_“Ne,_ Haruka..”

“Hm?”

“I had a talk with Kuppu... I mean, Aijima-san about our child.”

“Eh?”

“The baby who was dead in your tummy on that day, you carried him when you are 28, right?”

“Yes. Why, Tokiya-kun?”  

 “He said that it was possible to make our child exists earlier and lives longer.”

“Eh?” 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 24! Next chapter will be about them after ten years which will last for a few chapters before I officially end this story. As usual, please let me know what do you think about this story, okay? Matta ne!


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The jitters, just before their wedding...

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**Tokiya** continued to stare at the sliding door which reflected himself.

Himself, four years after he met Haruka and his friends.

Handsomely wearing a black tuxedo, Tokiya fidgeted out of nervousness and exhilaration. Well, of course he was. He was going to spend the rest of his life with Nanami Haruka, the first and last girl that he ever loved. 

Haruka must be so beautiful today. Can’t wait to see her in wedding dress! What did the late Tokiya feel at time like this? What did he do to overcome his nervousness?

“Tokiyaaaa, are you ready?” it seemed like _Kami-sama_ helped him this time as Otoya, his not-so-beloved best friend suddenly showed up from behind. Apparently, the red head could help him overcoming his nervousness.

“How come you still have time to be spaced out, Tokiya? You are going to get married.”

“I know,” Tokiya rolled his eyes.

“Then, why were you spaced out just now? Something’s wrong?”

“Nothing.. It’s just that...” he turned to look at the red eyes. “Otoya..”

“Hm?”

“This is not a dream, right? Can I slap you?” without giving any single warning, his big hand already slapped Otoya a few times, much to his ex-roommate’s annoyance and pain.

“What the heck was that!?” Otoya was about to cry while his hand rubbed his innocent yet victimized cheek. “Are you trying to kill me? That hurts!”

“Don’t be silly, Otoya. If I really want to kill you, you will be already in cemetery, joining those corpses. I have countless chances to do that considering we used to room together for three years.”

“That’s not the point! I am hurting here!”

“I just want to make sure if this is a dream or not!” Tokiya shamelessly shouted back. He even forgot that he was insanely nervous just now.

“Normally, people will slap themselves you idiot!”

“I don’t want to hurt my face! Not when I am going to marry Haruka.”

“Then it’s okay to slap my face!?” Otoy pointed his red cheek.

“Absolutely!”

“You are just the same with the late Tokiya! He also slapped me like this!”

“That’s because we are the same person, you idiot!”

“You..” Otoya was about to strangle Tokiya when Masato came to Tokiya’s so-called rescue.

“Ichinose, Ittoki, what the heck?” the image of a typical groom who is supposed to be all nervous and dramatic could not be applied to Tokiya as the blue head was teasing his best friend instead.

“Hijirikawa-san, glad you are here,” Tokiya grinned as finally, someone with a rational head came and joined them.

“Glad I am here because if I am not here, Ittoki will strangle you and you will die sooner,” Masato deadpanned as he stared at Otoya who already seized Tokiya’s neck.

“But it’s his fault! This groom slapped me out of moronic reason!” Otoya shouted in dissastisfation.

“Nah, Ittoki. Just let him do it. He is the groom so he needs to be the most good-looking guy in the church. Let’s go, Ichinose. It’s time already,” with a face that did not show any heck of sympathy for the poor red head, he gave a gesture to Tokiya.

“What!?? That’s not fair! I know you guys are twins but just because he also has a blue hair, it doesn’t mean..” Otoya continued complaining as the said twins left him.

Meanwhile in the corridor...

“Ichinose..”

“Hm?”

“I know you are jittery and all that but that doesn’t make you okay to slap your own best friend, you know..” Masato’s poker face suddenly turned stern.

“Haha.. I know you are going to scold me too. As expected from a mother figure like you. You don’t scold your child in front of others..”

“Oh, come on.. enough with those mother figure lame jokes already. I expect, you, Ichinose, out of all people will not play around with it,” Masato remarked while rolling his eyes.

Tokiya just grinned stupidly but Masato knew more than enough about what was hidden behind the grin. Instead, the scion gave his teammate a concerned look before patting his shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course I am okay. What kind of question is that?” Tokiya chuckled but seeing Masato just smiled bitterly at him, he gave up.

“Your mother is also here. Why are you doing here instead of meeting her?”

Gosh, Hijirikawa-san knew it, Tokiya mentally sighed. He deliberately hid here because he did not want anyone to push him to meet Megumi.

It was not like he despised her. It was just.. He never imagined that Megumi, the mother who dumped him would come to his wedding ceremony to the point of he did not know how to react to this situation.

  “It’s because I don’t know what to feel and what to say to her. Plus, she’s coming here with her husband so she most probably came here as..”

“Nope. She came here as your mother,” Masato cut calmly, sending his teammate shocked. “She asked me about you just now. She even said to me that even her husband did not know about the fact that you are her son, she still wanted to see her son. That’s why I am here. I want to tell you that.”

“But what made her changed that sudden, though? It sounds suspicious..”

“To be honest, it’s not that sudden. Do you forget that you have someone in your life that will make something impossible become possible, just for you, Ichinose?”

Seeing Masato’s suggestive expression, Tokiya quickly got the picture.

“Are you talking about Haruka?”

“Hey, Hijirikawa. We expected you to tell him about his mother..” Syo, who suddenly approached those blue heads with other STARISH members gasped when he saw Tokiya up close. “You look soooo stunning in that outfit, Tokiya.”

“Come on, Syo. I wear this kind of formal outfit for God-knows-how-many-times for so many occasions. We, all men wear the exact same thing with the exact same design. How does it make me sooo stunning? You should praise Hijirikawa-san as well. I bet he is hurt right now.”

“I am not, you party pooper,” it is weird when Masato himself called Tokiya a party pooper.

“You are a party pooper as always, Tokiya,” Syo clicked his tongue in irritation. “What I meant, as a groom, you have this kind of aura that makes you so good-looking today.”

“Thanks to my late father for giving me this stunning look,” even Tokiya tried hard to look happy, but his friends knew him long enough to know that deep inside of his heart, he really wished that his father would be here as well.

“Come on, Tokiya. Enough with the fake smile. Please cheer up yourself, okay? Today is your special day,” Syo was about to pat Tokiya’s shoulder but soon he was rueful because Tokiya stood on tiptoes to make himself taller, much to others’ amusement. They laughed in unison.

“I am trying to pat your shoulder so please stop making yourself taller, you jerk! Hey, don’t laugh at me, _omaetachi!_ Hijirikawa, not you too!”

“Sorry.. I can’t help it,” Masato tried to maintain a straight face but giving up sooner. He laughed again, much to Syo’s irritation.

 “Nice try, _Ochibi-chan._ Way too nice,” Tokiya stroked Syo’s much shorter head while imitating Ren’s way of talking. “I guess puberty doesn’t favor you that much, unlike the rest of us.”

“Shut up! You don’t even reach 180 cm and also way shorter than Natsuki so don’t be so full of yourself.”

“But I am still 19 cm taller than you. Way, way, way taller than you.”

“I said shut up!”

“Ah, we almost forgot about Megumi-san!” Cecil’s gasp sent the other going, “Ahhhh, you are right!”

“Your mother wants to see you, Icchi,” Ren turned serious.

Tokiya avoided the others’ gazes which seemingly said, ‘are you not going to see her? She is still your mother, you know?’

“I am just not ready and I feel awkward,” his answer was enough to make them giving up.

Maybe Tokiya needed more time.

* * *

 

 **Every** single soul in the church remained silent, allowing Tokiya to relish his time to see Haruka in a wedding dress, right in front of him.

Words could not describe how beautiful Haruka was. Her light make-up suited her the most, highlighting her modesty and natural beauty.

This sight of her would certainly be the most precious sight for him.

As for Haruka..

What a memory. Who had thought that she would experience marrying Tokiya for a second time?

Tokiya, who looked so handsome as always, would recite his vow, just like any other grooms.

 **“** I love you Nanami Haruka as I love no other. All that I am I share with you. I take you to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part: according to God's holy ordinance, and there to I pledge you my love and faithfulness.”

Haruka and his friends were shocked upon learning about Tokiya’s wedding vow.

It is the same vow! In their ‘first’ marriage, the late Tokiya recited the exact same vow.

She could feel her tears started to stream down her cheeks but she did not bother to wipe it, much to the others’ shock. Yes, happiness is clearly an understatement but hearing the line ‘till death do us part’ from Tokiya hit her hard.

In a few years, Tokiya would leave her.

He would leave her first and again.

It was her turn now.

“ I take you to be my husband through health and sickness, through plenty and want, through joy and sorrow, now and forever.I will always love you when we are together and when we are apart; when our lives are at peace and when they are in turmoil; when I am proud of you and when I am disappointed in you; in times of rest and in times of work. I will honor your goals and dreams and help you to fulfill them. From the depth of my being, I will seek to be open and honest with you. I say these things believing that God is in the midst of them all.”

Her eyes could not stop staring at the mesmerizing blue eyes, especially when Tokiya was smiling sweetly, just for her. To think that those eyes would shut forever already torn her apart.

The protocol in their wedding ceremony just went fast in pace as her eyes relished him from head to toe. It was like she would miss him anytime if he was no longer in her sight even just for one second until…

It was the time for the exchange of rings. Haruka was overwhelmed by her mixed feelings to totally pay attention. She snapped to reality as she felt Tokiya’s rough hand squeezed her hand, sliding the ring through her finger before she did the same to him.

And again, she was crying.

Marrying to Tokiya again is like a dream coming true. At a glance, she could see that Tokiya just stared calmly at her. For some reasons, unlike before, she could not guess what was Tokiya thinking right now.

While Tokiya…. Words could not describe how broken-hearted he was, upon seeing this crybaby in front of him. Yet, this was not the right time for him to be emotional like her. Instead, he should be the one who comforted her.

“Bride?” the priest raised his eyebrow.

“I.. I am sorry. It is just that Tokiya-kun.. you look so handsome today.”

No, that was not in her mind right now. It just that..

“You.. you may proceed, sir.”

“Okay,” the mid-aged priest continued, “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you as husband and wife.”

She, Nanami Haruka, was officially being the wife of her first and last love, Ichinose Tokiya.

“You may kiss the bride.”

Tokiya’s muscular arms suddenly wrapped her petite body close to him. He stared lovingly at her for a few seconds before kissing her.

Haruka would never forget this for the rest of her life.

“Ahhh, my eyes..” Otoya wiped his watery eyes. He was confused with his feeling. He was happy for the marriage but..

 He was worried about how fast the time left them. It was already four years since they returned to their past to meet Tokiya.

They had six years left to be together.

“Otoya, if you want to use ‘this church is dusty’ excuse for your crying, there is no use,” Otoya turned as Syo, with his cracked voice, giving him a pointless warning. “This church is way too clean. We, the crybabies cannot use that freaking excuse!”

“What a bad way of coaxing,” Cecil muttered.

“Shut up!”


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A road to Triple S...

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**Ten** years passed since their debut as STARISH.

Ren, Cecil and Masato already married to their girlfriends. Otoya was engaged to Nozomi and was busy with doing preparation for his wedding while Natsuki was happy with Tomochika. Meanwhile, Syo was romantically and surprisingly involved with Yuma Risa after they became the hosts of a travel program together.

And the last but not least, after getting married for a year, Tokiya and Haruka were blessed with a third member in their family, Ichinose Izumi.

Being the only and beloved son of a popular idol, not to mention his look exactly is the same with his father to the point of he was addressed as ‘Mini Tokiya’, Izumi had gained a lot of attention from the fans the moment he was born. As he grew up, his talent as an entertainer shone more and more. He loves singing and acting, just like his father. His shy but bright personality and only got all cute and excited around his parents gained himself a ton of CF offers for children products.

As for Tokiya, he learned a lot of things from Izumi.

First of all, no matter how terrible your childhood is, promise yourself that you will never let your child goes through the same kind of childhood.

“Daddy, I got full marks in Mathematics!”

“Really? Congrats, dear. Do you want a new drawing block then?”

“Yeayyy, drawing block, drawing block!”

Unlike me, he is really good in drawing, Tokiya thought.

Second, since in their small world, they only have you, they tend to admire and view you as the most wonderful person that they have ever seen.

Tokiya was brushing teeth when suddenly a soft knock on the door caught his attention.

“Come in.”

A small hand slowly pushed the door, staring at his father with his bright and hopeful blue eyes.

“Em..daddy.”

“Ah, Izumi. _Ohaiyo!_ ”

“ _Ohaiyo._ Daddy, may I take a shower with you?”

“Sure. Let’s brush our teeth first,” Tokiya pulled a small chair next to him. “Stand on the chair or you cannot see the mirror.”

“Okay,” the boy carefully stood on the red chair before smiling once he could see his own reflection in the mirror.

“Here,” Tokiya squeezed out a small amount of grape-flavoured toothpaste along his son’s toothbrush.

“Thank you, daddy.”

“You’re welcome.”

A moment of silence passed as Tokiya and Izumi brushed their teeth quietly but much to Tokiya’s confusion, Izumi was intently staring at him.

“Daddy, when can I be as big and tall like daddy?” with his mouth which was still full with toothpaste, Izumi asked as his cute hands suddenly grabbed Tokiya’s muscular arm, admiring the alluring shape. “I want to have a hand like this!”

“You are just five years old, dear. When you grow, you will be like me,” Tokiya got down on his knee to meet his son’s eyes.

“When I grow up, I will be big like you?”

“Yes.”

“My face? Will it be same like daddy?” Izumi’s both hands were placed on Tokiya’s cheeks.

“Maybe. I don’t know since you are still five years old.”

“When will I big, daddy?”

“Well, let’s see... in order for you to be six years old, you have 365 days. Which mean..hm... 365 times 20... you have more than 7000 days to be like daddy.”

“Ehhhhhhhh?” As expected from a naive child, Izumi shouted in disbelief. He even did not care that he did not wash his mouth yet. “That was too long, daddy. I want to be like daddy. Daddy is so cool in tv. Daddy’s voice is like this,” Izumi gave a thumbs up excitedly.

“You like my voice?” he could feel the unspeakable warmth crawled through his veins. He never thought the feeling when you have your own son as your fan could be this lovely.

“Yes. I like it sooo much.”

“Well, maybe if you grow up, your voice will be the same like my voice. My voice when I was five years old is the same like yours.”

“Really? Waaaa, can’t wait! Can’t wait!” the kid jumped excitedly.

“But, first of all, you need to wash your mouth or you will spit more.”

The next one would be...

“Daddy!”

“Izumi, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did you just hurt yourself?”

“No.. It’s just that... Jinguji-san kissed my cheek. She said I am cute. I am scared, daddy!”

That Ren’s daughter, Tokiya sighed in speechlessness and feeling entertained. Who had thought that both his son and him would encounter the exact same situation when they were in kindergarten?

Except the fact that their responses were polar opposite. While Izumi cried because he felt terrified, Tokiya scolded the girl who kissed his cheek for being insolent, according to his own definition.  

“Why are you scared when she kissed your cheek?”

“Because she kissed me...” Izumi counted using his fingers before crying again, “I don’t know how many times she kissed me. I only have ten fingers to count. Daddy, can I borrow your hand? I want to count.”

“Okay, sure,” Tokiya kept silent as Izumi touched each of his finger slowly, attempting to count but...

“Waaaa, daddy! It’s too much. We don’t have enough fingers to count! Please help me, daddy!”

“Does it mean Rena-chan kissed you more than 20 times? Son, are you sure you are counting correctly?”

Your children believe in you as the safest place in the world. So, do use their trust wisely.

* * *

 

**“We** have a remarkable band boy here. Here we go, the star of the stars, STARISH!” Sakura Chie, the host of the music program introduced the said group, followed by a round of applause from the audience.

“ _Konbanwa_. We are STARISH!” seven of them introduced themselves while bowing politely.

“They are bright, don’t they? So, STARISH, everyone knows that you are one of the idol groups whose members are versatile and managed to bring the group name to the top. It was impossible nowadays to not see any members of STARISH in all tv stations. As for Ichinose-san and Ittoki-san, you guys just recently acted in Roulette, right? The most anticipated movie of the year. What do you guys think about each other when you acted together?” the other host, Yamaguchi Kaito asked them, focusing his black eyes on the ex-roommates.

“I wish I can do it with another person instead. It’s boring enough to keep rooming with him for three years straight, let alone to shoot so many scenes with him,” Tokiya’s playful answer gained himself laughter from the others. Everybody who knows so much about STARISH is well-informed about how Otoya and Tokiya acted around each other. They are indubitably best friends but their relationship can be considered as ‘love-hate’-type.

“Hey, I can say the same thing too, you know! This guy here is a devil when it comes to coaching. I asked him for some guidance about how play a wicked role but he himself was already wicked,” Otoya pouted, sending the female audiences squealed. ‘So cute’ exclaims came from everywhere.

“Yeah, Otoya is right. When Tokiya acts viciously, no matter in-screen or off-screen, he can match Tsukiyama Shuu in Tokyo Ghoul instantly,” Syo commented, slightly shivered upon recalling the moment when Tokiya taught him to be devilish like the said character.

“Said someone who asked me to coach him but running away like a scaredy-cat,” Tokiya curved in an annoying smirk to Syo as he was also annoyed with the small guy.

“What do you mean, Ichinose-san? Did you just say Kurusu-san, the toughest and bravest member in STARISH actually got scared with your acting?” Yamaguchi asked, curiously. 

“Yes. Not only him but this Kuppuru.. I mean Aijima-san,” Tokiya pointed at Cecil who automatically pouted, “and this guy,” Otoya averted his gaze to somewhere else, “also running away. They should learn from the other three how to act mature for God sake.”

_“Hai, hai,”_ Ren and Masato suddenly synchronized, showing off their maturity as Tokiya mentioned.

“ _Hai,_ Syo-chan may look tough but in reality, he is such an adorable scaredy-cat. He, Ai-chan and I used to shoot in a forest at night and guess what? Syo-chan was the one who screamed a lot. He even passed out twice,” Natsuki cheerfully told everyone (or basically the whole world) about Syo when the small guy tried so hard to be brave.

Syo was about to strangle the big guy when he heard the audience’s reaction.

_“Kawaiii!”_

“Syo-chan _kawaii!_ ”

And so, he decided to calm down for the sake of his fans.

“Kurusu-san, I bet Yuma-san must be glad to know that you are this cute,” Sakura exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah,” Syo tried hard to come up with an expected response but Tokiya knew straight away that Syo was uncomfortable when Risa was mentioned.

It was all because the blue head accidentally bumped into Syo and Risa who were fighting about something. Tokiya could tell that Syo was frustrated because Risa was cold with him recently.

The pink idol never knew that Tokiya was there, getting concerned about his relationship.

“I bet that fans out there will get very ecstatic to know about the different side of other members, right, _minnasan_?”

“Right!!” maniacal responses popped out, answering Yamaguchi’s question.  

“So, can we start with.. Ittoki-san? What is trivial but interesting thing about Jinguji-san?”

“Em.. let me see. Ah, his birthday is on 14th February but he hates chocolate. However, when his daughter, Rena-chan made it for him, he forced himself to eat it.”

 “Ohh, is that so? I guess Rena-chan is romantic like his father too,” Sakura commented.

“Well, I am so proud to have a daughter like her,” Ren smirked.

Maybe way too proud, Tokiya mentally commented as he recalled how Izumi cried a few times due to Rena’s kiss.

“How about Hijirikawa-san? Can you tell us a bit about Shinomiya-san?”

“I think his cooking is a lot better these days, thanks to someone’s _obachan_ ,” Masato replied flatly, gaining himself ‘wooow’ exclamation from the audience.

“So, Shinomiya-san’s cooking turns yummy these days?” Sakura’s eyes widened in curiosity. Again, everybody who knows just everything about STARISH is informed enough just how demonic Natsuki’s cooking could be.

“It’s always yummy to be honest,” Ren and Natsuki replied in unison, sending the others stared at them in uncertainty.

“Stop deceiving everyone, you guys,” Masato glared at those two friends who had weird taste buds. “I mean.. to say that his cooking is yummy is... he still has a long way to go. But at least, his recent macaroni is safe enough for Kurusu.”

“As expected from Hijirikawa-san, the mother of the group. Is he?” Yamaguchi showed an amazed look as if Masato is a food critic.

“Yes!” Except for Masato who instantly replied with ‘no!”, the others admitted enthusiastically.

“He can cook any kind of dishes, he can sew, he knows a lot about plants, he does calligraphy.. he is strict but good in taking care of everyone,” Cecil commented as if he just talked about someone that he admires so much.

“Shizuka-san is so lucky, right, _minnasan_?” Sakura turned to ask the audience before gaining herself an _‘hai!’_ from them.

“How about Ichinose-san, Shinomiya-san? What do you think about him?”

He is such an amazing friend, Yamaguchi-san. I killed him and his baby. I ruined his wife’s life but he forgave me easily, Natsuki mentally replied as his green eyes met the blue eyes.

“Em.. let me see... I think the fact that he is a very good father to Izumi-chan makes me want to get married as soon as possible. Izumi-chan is so cute and smart. He is cheerful but easy to cry like his mother. Izumi-chan also can sing and act like Tokiya-kun even he is shy around people he doesn’t know..”

“Oi, why the hell did you suddenly talk about Izumi? You are supposed to talk about his father,” Syo sneered, caused the others laughed.

“Ahhahaha, I am sorry. I just get excited everytime I talk about something cute,” Natsuki scratched his blond hair sheepishly.

“In other words, he doesn’t find me cute,” Tokiya commented, pretended to be sad.

“Or not even worth mentioning. Natsuki obviously tried to be polite,” Cecil interrupted, caused the others to laugh again except Tokiya who shot him a warning look.

“You Kuppuru...” Tokiya muttered, suddenly forgot that his voice can be heard through the whole studio via the lavalier microphone attached on his collar.    

“Stop calling me Kuppuru!” Cecil seemed in the same boat with him.

“I wonder about this for a while but.. Can you tell us.. what’s with that Kuppuru name? Are you guys actually quite close to the point of Ichinose-san gives Aijima-san a nickname?”

“Hahahaha. Not even in your birthday,” Cecil and Tokiya responded sarcastically to Sakura’s question but they managed to make it like a joke.

“In fact, we call them Tom and Jerry,” Syo interrupted. “They bicker way too frequent. Mostly because of petty things.”

“Ichinose-san and Aijima-san surprisingly have this kind of side.”

“Nah, it should not be surprising at all, Sakura-san. Even Tokiya seems flawless and icy but once you know him, you migh freak out with the fact that he is a cat lover.”

“Ehhhhh?” expectedly, every single soul in the studio exclaimed dramatically, much to Tokiya’s shiver.

No, he is not a cat lover. Not since that day when he learned that the bloody cat can talk anymore.

 “No, _minnasan._ Not anymore,” Tokiya responded, seriously.

“Ehh? Why, though?” Sakura asked.

“I wonder why, though..” Tokiya gave Cecil a glare, caused the latter to avert his gaze to somewhere else. “But, because of some stuffs happened, I find it hard to believe the species anymore. I think I need to cure this ailurophobia first.”

“That sounds tough, huh?” Yamaguchi obviously did not really catch what the hell was Tokiya trying to say about but he just played along with him.

“It’s quite a shame, Tokiya. Considering you can get all lovey-dovey with a cat to the point of.. auch! Masato, what was that for?”

“Nothing,” Masato tried to hide the fact that he just kicked Cecil’s leg who was sitting right in front of him with his poker face.

“It seems like Hijirikawa-san tried to protect Ichinose-san. As expected from twins separated from birth. You sure are close with everyone, Ichinose-san.”

“Well, obviously except this guy.. also obviously,” Tokiya bluntly pointed Cecil.

 “But nowadays, he kinda forces himself to love cats since his son loves to help stray cats,” Otoya added.

“Speaking of Izumi-chan, he has been quite popular, right? I mean.. he is also talented like you. Do you have intention to allow Izumi-chan to be an idol like you?”

Tokiya curved in a warm smile which the other STARISH members had got used to it nowadays.

The thought about his son was enough to make him feeling warm. His son smiled a lot everytime he saw his father and that was what Tokiya wanted for his child. Looking at Izumi is like seeing his childhood so he did not want Izumi’s childhood turned rotten like him. 

“As long as it makes him happy and it is good for his life, I will allow him to do whatever he pleases.”

I don’t want him to be anything like my childhood. Never.

“Okay, enough with the trivial question. Congratulations on being chosen to sing in Triple S decisive concert! Apart from the duet project with HEAVENS, everyone except Ichinose –san have released their new single right? Please give them a big hand!” the audience automatically gave a round of applause. “So, Ichinose-san, how’s your song? What can you comment on it?”

Tokiya smiled chummily as he thought about Haruka. Because of her, he could give his best to the song.

“I can guarantee you, it will be a magnum opus.”

* * *

 

**“Stop** calling me Kuppuru already!” Cecil did not waste even one second to scold Tokiya after the talk show. 

“It suits you well, though..” Tokiya pulled a poker face. “Plus, it’s given by Haruka, right? You should be more proud with the name. Maybe you can change your stage name into Aijima Kuppuru instead.”

“It only sounds nice if Haruka calls me so, not you!”

“Daddy!!” a cute and high-pitched voice suddenly could be heard and upon noticing a boy and a petite woman approached them, Tokiya and Cecil fixed their postures so that Izumi would not notice that his beloved daddy just fought with his teammate because of a childish matter.

“Izumi, Haruka,” he kissed her forehead before getting down on his knee to kiss Izumi’s cheek. “Wait, what kind of creature..”

“It’s a cat, daddy. I found it in the store,” Izumi raised the cute and white cat up to match Tokiya’s eye level but that just made his father frowned even more.

“Izumi, do you.. love cats that much?”

“Yes, daddy. They are cute.”

“Sure they are,” Tokiya gave him a bitter smile, caused Haruka to chuckle.

“How was your day?” Tokiya stood up, meeting the golden eyes of his wife.

“Good. I just finished writing a new song for you. Do you want to...”

“Ah, Mimi-chan!”

All of them turned to the voice’s direction. Risa, the female actress who used to be ‘the match from heaven’ of Hayato aka Syo’s girlfriend jogged towards them, obviously looked relieved.

“Mimi-chan?” Tokiya turned to look at the cat. “Ah, it’s Mimi-chan, your cat, right?”

“Yes. I’ve looked for it everywhere. Thank God, Izumi-chan has found him.”

“Wait! Is it the kitten that you showed to me a few years ago? That Mimi-chan?”

“You still remember it, Ichinose-san?”

“Of course I do. I used to play with it a lot before, right?”

“Ah, yes. You love it so much to the point of  you nursed it for three days straight.”

 “Waaaa, he did love cats after all,” Natsuki commented, feeling amazed with his teammate’s used-to-be fondness.

“If it’s not because of Cecil, he would continue loving the kitties. Poor Tokiya,” Otoya said in the softest voice he could do but it still sounded like a sneer.

“You guys are so mean!!” Cecil screamed.

Meanwhile Syo was fighting with his heartache as he could see that Risa was avoiding his eyes.

“Oi, _Ochibi-chan._ Is it just me or you and Risa-chan have a problem?” Ren asked.

“Shut up.”

“Here,” Izumi smiled brightly at Risa as he handed the cat into the actress’s arms.

“Thank you, Izumi-chan. You’ve taken a good care of it,” Risa smiled as she stroked the small blue head.

“You’re welcome.”

“Here, you can have your Popsicle,” his small gift made the child smiled even brighter.

“Thank you very much!”

“You’re welcome, dear. I will leave first, Izumi-chan, Ichinose-san, Haru-chan,” she gave them a bow before excusing herself.

She left Syo, dumbstruck.

“Shall we leave? I am so tired from today’s schedule. I don’t need more drama,” Ren urged as somehow, he could guess that Syo was feeling bitter.

“What drama? Come on, let’s go,” Tokiya grabbed Izumi’s hand before walking together with his friends and Haruka but soon, he fathomed Ren when he saw Syo went to another direction.

“Syo, where are you going?” Otoya asked.

“You guys leave first. I have to go somewhere else,” Syo quickly went to Risa’s direction, much to their puzzlement.

I have a bad feeling about this, Tokiya mentally remarked.

_“Minnasan,_ I will wait for him. You guys can go home first,” Tokiya gave Izumi’s hand to Haruka before quickly leaving the scene.

It was a silence before Cecil’s eyes wandered to his friends.  

“Should I wait for Tokiya so that Masato will wait for me after that?” he asked, sarcastically.

“It’s not funny, Aijima. Come on, just leave them,” Masato remarked.         

Risa-chan looks pale just now. I wonder what happened, Haruka thought as she walked to her car.

* * *

 

**Syo** stared deeply into another hazel eyes, seeking for an explanation as he just heard the line that he never wanted to hear from the girl that he loved with all his heart.

“Let’s break off, Syo-kun. I.. I cannot proceed with this relationship. It will hurt both of us more.”

What drama was Risa playing now, huh?

All this time, Syo always thought that the fact that he returned to his past was not only because of Tokiya and Haruka. The God had promised something better and wonderful to each of them. Even it hurted him to see Haruka and Tokiya together, he remained to be the supporter of the couple. He knew, someday, he would achieve his own happiness. The optimism grew stronger as he saw his other friends gradually found theirs.

And now.. When he finally met Yuma Risa, a girl who could replace Haruka... When he was ready to propose to her, she confessed to him she just knew that she suffered from a brain cancer.

But that was not a big deal for him. It was impossible for him to leave her because of the disease.

The big problem was..

Risa’s attitude. She gave up on him that easy, as if he was that petty in her life. 

“Excuse me?” Syo raised his eyebrow as his anger got the best of him. “I am sorry but I cannot understand what are you saying. Did you just say that you want to break off just because of your disease?”

“Glad you got the point,” she put a blank face. Maybe she was trying to provoke him. Maybe she was trying to show to him how ignorant she was with his feeling but..

It seemed like she did not know Syo enough. Basically, she had no idea how persistent the Prince of Fighting main cast could be.

He would fight for her till the end. That was the promise that he always carried in him. He is not the one who will surrender easily.

“But, it doesn’t mean that I agree with you, Risa. No matter how much you oppose me, I’ll never let you go, not in this kind of state. I will always be there beside you. You can hit me if you can, just hate me if you want but I will never leave you. Never!”

He suddenly left her alone as he stormed away from the scene. He could not stand to stare at Risa anymore.

The beautiful face turned paler as time goes by.

 “Syo?”

His whole body automatically shivered as the soft but concerned voice hit his ears. Syo slowly turned around, almost getting himself a heart attack again when..

His blue eyes met another darker blue eyes.

“To.. Tokiya?” just when he wanted to be tight-lipped about the fight, someone was sure had a really bad timing in finding it. “Did you..”

“Yes, I heard everything. I am sorry for eavesdropping on you but I am concerned about you, Syo.”

“Thank you but no need to be concerned about me. I will never leave her anyway.”

“Sure you will.”

It turned sufficiently awkward until..

“You can cry if you want, Syo. Crying doesn’t mean that you are weak. It’s for your own good. You need to let out what you feel in your chest so that you will be stronger to protect her.”

“Tokiya..” he raised up his head while tears already glistened his eyes. “Do you think.. it’s okay for me to cry?”

“Yes,” Tokiya assured him with a smile, along with a stroke on the small shoulder. “Just let it out. I will be here for you.”

As he could sense the sincerity from his friend, Syo automatically burst into tears. He still kept his head down while Tokiya stroked his back, comforting him.

 

 


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date in festival

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA and SILVERMOON249 (for Crystal Time lyrics)

**Apparently,** one of the signs that Ichinose Tokiya is going to die soon is when he has a big fight with his friend, Tokiya mentally concluded as his blue orbs met the green but pissed off eyes, right in front of him.

The late Tokiya used to fight with Syo, a few hours before his death.

But now, this current Tokiya was fighting with Aijima Cecil about something that the prince believes that the others should know sooner.

What the hell was that ‘something’ to begin with? For sure, it was not something as petty as bento because first, the one who really wanted to punch the other person was Cecil. Second, the prince is not someone who will snap easily unless the situation turned out critical.

It all started when they took a 30 minutes break from a variety show shooting in their room.

“You look anxious. Something’s wrong?” Cecil asked as Tokiya was looking at his cell phone.

“I am just worried about Syo. Since his girlfriend wanted to break off, he looked so sad.”

However, Tokiya just received a nonchalant response from the Agnapolis prince.

“You should worry about yourself instead,” Cecil remarked sarcastically, much to the blue head’s puzzlement.

“What do you mean?”

“You only have a month left, Tokiya,” the A of STARISH reminded, coldly.

“I know.”

Cecil chuckled sarcastically. “I. Know?”

“Yup. I am completely aware of that. That’s why I want to spend more time with my family after this.”

 “You know that’s not what I meant, Tokiya,” Cecil remarked with a suggestive look. “I kept your promise because you mentioned about Izumi. You want Izumi to be there beside his mummy when you leave her and that was why I helping you back then in school but now, things are getting out of hand! You have one month left to live your life when THE OTHERS INCLUDING YOUR WIFE BELIEVE YOU HAVE TWO MORE YEARS LEFT, TOKIYA!” this time around, Cecil could not suppress his disappointment and indignation anymore. His voice turned louder than it should be, much to Tokiya’s fright.

Yup, as you have read, Tokiya was this close to leave everything in this world.

“Aijima-san, your voice..”

“Why? Are you afraid if there is somebody out there can hear us? Let them be! I don’t want to be your accomplice forever, though. Ten years is enough and I don’t want to keep the secret any longer! I will tell Haruka about your life span if YOU still insist to not tell her!”

“Aijima-san, please..” instead of rebelling like the usual him, Tokiya knelt down, pleading for the prince’s sympathy. “Don’t tell her yet. I promise I will tell her soon..”

“I will babysit Izumi with my wife tonight. You will tell her, Tokiya,” Cecil turned his back towards Tokiya, refused to meet eyes with the idol.

“No, that’s impossible,” Tokiya’s eyes widened in horror as he shook his head. “We will go to the festival tonight. I have a surprise for Haruka and I don’t want to ruin that!”

“And yet, you think that giving her a false hope and temporary happiness is a great thing? You can be so stupid sometimes, Tokiya,” Cecil sneered, totally ignored Tokiya’s hurt expression. “All this time, you did something reckless by yourself, you kept secret about Natsuki with Syo but I tried to understand you but now, when I am your accomplice, I still don’t understand you! YOU ARE THE MOST SELFISH HUMAN BEING THAT I HAVE EVER MET! YOU HURT HARUKA JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO SEE IZUMI GREW UP IN FRONT OF YOU! WHAT KIND OF HUSBAND AND FATHER ARE YOU, TOKIYA!?”

Being verbally attacked continuously by his friend was enough to make Tokiya emotionally broken. He stared at the floor blankly, much to Cecil’s surprise.

Normally, he will attack me back. But why now.. Cecil slowly faced Tokiya only to find the blue head, with a still blank face, curving in a bitter smile, suggesting that he agreed with the prince.

It was so bitter, much to Cecil’s guilt.

Goshhh, what’s wrong with him? Sure, I was being too harsh but this is not our first time! Why now...

“Yes, you are right, Aijima-san. I am selfish. I don’t even know how to be a good father and husband. I am such a failure..” Tokiya muttered.

Cecil, what have you done?

“Tokiya, I am sorry. I mean, I am so, so sorry,” Cecil knelt down, attempting to comfort the broken blue head. “I don’t mean to be harsh with you. But, wait a minute! I am always harsh with you but usually, you attacked me back. Why today..”

“Every morning, as soon as I wake up from my sleep, my wife and my son will say to me how much they love me..” Tokiya confessed. “Instead of ‘good morning’, they will say ‘I love you, daddy’, or ‘I love you, Tokiya-kun’. I don’t know if it is Haruka’s plan or not but Izumi said to me that ‘I love you’ means they wish only the best thing will happen to me including how I will stay longer with them, how good my morning, my evening and all that.”

This time, Cecil felt a stab through his heart. A strong guilt crawled into his veins.

“Tokiya, I am..”

“The feeling when someone that you love keeps reminding you that they reciprocate your love is the best thing ever happened to me, the guy who grew up without his parents. I can tell that Haruka knows how much I love to hear those things and that’s why she asked Izumi to do it. This life.. this marriage.. It happened as beautiful as I used to imagine before. I want a child with Haruka. I want Haruka to live her life with our son and that’s why I want Izumi to keep alive, not die in Haruka’s tummy. I want my son gains a chance to live his life. To be honest, Aijima-san, I don’t know what to do to satisfy Haruka. I will leave her soon but I don’t know what should I do so that I would fulfill all the needs until I come up with the plan; ah, I will ask Aijima-san to make my son lives earlier than he is supposed to so that I can see he grows up in front of me and he knows how his daddy looks like while Haruka will not feel lonely and put the blame on herself anymore. But when she keeps reminding me that she loves me so much, it was so hard for me to tell her the truth. I just can’t say it. Yet, the moment you said that I am selfish, I can’t agree more with you, Aijima-san. I guess..” with his glistened eyes, he stared deep into Cecil’s eyes. “I guess that you are right, Aijima-san. I am selfish. No matter how hard I try to give the best thing to my family, I will just end up stupidly.”

Cecil could feel his tall frame shivered as he shed tears. He did not care if any staff of the variety show ended up being surprised to see two grown-up men knelt down on the floor together because to be honest, all he could think was..

All this time, Tokiya suffered more than Haruka. Tokiya was the actual victim.

All this time, all of them ‘tortured’ Tokiya, indirectly forcing him to fulfill their regret and guilt to the late Tokiya.  

“I am sorry, Tokiya.”   

* * *

 

 **Tokiya** was sleeping soundly when he heard a very familiar voice around his ears.

“Tokiya! Oi, Tokiya!”

Hm.. is that my voice? What gives?

“Waaaahhh!” The vocalist could not quash himself from screaming at the top of his lungs as the image of himself stared intently at him. Not to mention his surroundings was so dark.

 “Tokiya? I mean... myself?”

Or rather, it was himself, wearing a blood-stained shirt.

“Yes.. it’s me or it’s you,” the soft voice answered, flatly.

“What.. what’s with the shirt? And where am I? I believe, I was sleeping..”

“On Haruka’s lap. What a nice pillow, right?” the dead Tokiya curved in a bitter and cliched smile that you always found when you encountered a ghost with a dark past. “I am Tokiya, Haruka’s husband and this is the last shirt that I wore before I died. Don’t worry. You are just dreaming.”

“Ehh? For real?” Tokiya’s eyes grew wider as he scanned Haruka’s husband from head to toe. It was drenched with blood, much to anyone’s nightmare. His face was too pale while his lips was grossly purple.

“You! At least, make yourself presentable if you want to appear in my dream, you ghost! You look so scary!” Tokiya pointed randomly at the late Tokiya’s frame.

“I told you, this is the last shirt I wore before I died and don’t make me repeat how Satsuki made me dead until I looked like this,” the late Tokiya’s soft but stern voice made the current Tokiya flinched.

Oh my.. I never thought that I would get intimidated by myself. Otoya, I am truly sorry for scaring the hell out of you, Tokiya mentally apologized as he recalled how the red head flinched everytime he accidentally got on the blue head’s nerve.

“Wait! You know about Satsuki?”

“Of course. I know everything,” the late Tokiya gave a suggestive stare at the new him.

What? He knows everything?

“Why did you do that? The others will be pissed off for sure, you know.”

Tokiya’s eyes widened in panic. “Hey, look who is talking! Just so you know, because of you, I am the victim of the whole situation. May I ask you something? I believe Haruka is a typical Japanese girl who is polite and shy when it comes to body contact and affection but what have you done to her? She has been too bold and thanks to that, everybody in school said that she is a flirt.”

“Well..” the late Tokiya suddenly blushed, much to Tokiya’s amazement because apparently, this was first time for him to see himself blushed.

Come to think of it, which part of this blushed face did Haruka find it cute, though? It looks disgusting to me.

 “I mean.. even I look cold and reserved but I am still a normal man who wants to express his love to his wife. That’s natural, you kiddie!”

“Hey, don’t call me kiddie, you ghost!”

“And don’t call me ghost, you kiddie!”

“Tsk! Because of you sneaking a date at the festival, they interrogated me even I am innocent.”

 “ _Mattaku.._ They should forget about that already. It’s the secret between Haruka and me. Why were they so persistent?” The late Tokiya sighed in dissatisfaction. “And what’s with that personality? You look more like Hayato, you know,” the late Tokiya gave a scowl to the new him.

“Why? You don’t like it?” Tokiya gave him a mischievous look, much to the late Tokiya’s aggravation.

“No. Instead, you seem natural. God knows how hard for me to cope with the persona.”

“I feel you. I used to feel the same way but thanks to STARISH, Haruka and Izumi, I learn how to loose up a bit.”

“Izumi, huh?” the stern look suddenly turned soft. “That’s our son, right?”

“You know about that?” Tokiya felt a heartache as the late Tokiya looked grief-stricken.

“Yes. No wonder at that night, Haruka kept stroking her tummy. I did have a guess but I thought that I would wait for her to tell me herself. But, I guess... my destiny said otherwise.”

For the first time in his life, Tokiya felt sympathetic to himself.

“Hey, Tokiya..”

“Hm?”

“You were dead before you could surprise her with your plan, right?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I want to help you achieving that.”

The late Tokiya’s blue eyes widened in surprise. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Just tell me what do you want to do.”

The bewildered expression from the late Tokiya turned softer. “No. I leave it to you, Tokiya. I will agree with whatever you want to plan for Haruka.”

“What?”

“Your sacrifice for the sake of Haruka and Izumi..” he gave Tokiya a warm smile. “I understand why Aijima-san opposed it but if I were you, I would do the same thing. I don’t care what I might lose as long as it is for Haruka.”

If it was not because the idea of hugging his ownself was obviously weird, Tokiya would do it for sure. He felt touched because there was somebody who were in the same boat with him..

 Which when you think about it, it was not surprising at all because the late Tokiya is himself, apparently.

 “Thank you, Tokiya,” Tokiya smiled in relief. “Maybe the others will get angry when they know the truth but we know we care more about Haruka. She is everything to us.”

“Yup, that’s true,” the late Tokiya acknowledged. “Speaking of Haruka, I miss her so much. Maybe I should appear in her dream as well..”

“Wait, don’t!”

“Why?”

“At least, your clothes.. just  please wash your clothes first or you will scare the hell out of her! You know how she easily gets scared with ghosts, right?”

“Tsk! You are not making any sense!”

“So, you are,” Tokiya mocked. “Wait.. how about.. instead of Haruka’s dream, you appear in Otoya’s dream? It will be fun to see the reaction from a scaredy-cat like him.”

There was a pregnant silence as the late Tokiya stared blankly at the new him before he muttered,

“Tokiya, you are the worst.”

“W..what? That’s rude, Tokiya. Considering it came from you..”

“You do know how scared Otoya is with ghosts, right? I don’t want to be the source of his sleep deprivation.”

“But it’s only for fun!”

“I said no!” the late Tokiya gave a stern glare. “He will cry, calling out her aunt or something. I don’t want that to happen.”

Tokiya smiled warmly. “Instead of being cold, you are surprisingly caring about him till the end.”

“Well.. He’s my best friend after all,” the late Tokiya averted his gaze to somewhere else and Tokiya could tell that he found it embarrassing to admit how important Otoya is in his life.

“Okay, time to wake up. You planned a date with Haruka, right? So, excuse me. Please have fun.”

“Wait, Tokiya. Where do you want to go?” Tokiya asked as the late Tokiya slowly faded away.

“It’s none of your business.”

“Tsk! That cold jerk..”

And that was how their weird, random and warm conversation ended.

* * *

 

 **Tokiya** woke up, suddenly feeling frightened of the possibility of the late Tokiya would appear in Haruka’s dream until he realized that Izumi was sleeping on him.

“Izumi, wake up,” he patted the boy’s small back slowly, sending Izumi to open his eyes slowly.

“Daddy...” Izumi rubbed his half-opened eyes.

“Do you want to go to festival tonight?”

“Festival? I want, I want!” the child shouted excitedly. 

“Then, go to the bathroom first and wait for mummy there. Mummy will bathe you.”

“Okay!” his son quickly jumped from his lap before running to his bedroom.

“Tokiya-kun.. Tokiya-kun..”

“Haruka?” Tokiya was confused as Haruka, with her closed eyes, muttering her name anxiously.

“Tokiya-kun..” she sounded more desperate, much to her husband’s worry.

Wait.. could it be... that Tokiya really appeared in her dream? With that kind of state? No wonder Haruka looked scared, Tokiya ridiculously suspected the late Tokiya now.  

“Haruka,” he woke Haruka, who slept while leaned against the sofa up. “Hey, Haruka..”

“Tokiya-kun,” the beautiful golden eyes slowly open, staring blankly at him for a while before she threw herself into his muscular arms. “Tokiya-kun! Thank God, you are here!”

“Of course I am here,” he caressed her silky hair out of bewilderment. “What happened? Did you have a nightmare? About ghosts, perhaps?”

“No, it’s not about ghosts,” her voice trembled while she tightened her hug around his frame. “I was dreaming about you leaving me. You.. You said something about your time is coming.”

Damn..

That was all Tokiya could think out of despair.

“Please don’t leave me, Tokiya-kun. I love you. I still need you,” to make the circumstance turned worse, Haruka burst into tears, tearing her husband’s heart apart.

You see, Aijima-san? I faced similar situation almost everyday. How am I supposed to tell her the truth then?

“Hey, what are you talking about? Of course I am not going to leave my wife. I love you too and like you, I need you,” he made her faced him, convincing her that everything was fine.

“I am sorry. I got suddenly emotional because of some stupid dreams.”

It’s not as stupid as you thought, Haruka, it took all for Tokiya not let out the response.

“Please don’t cry, okay? We are going to have fun, tonight, right?” he wiped her tears, pampering her like how he treated Izumi. “Now, please bathe Izumi. Aijima-san would come here later to pick Izumi with him while you...”

“While me?” Haruka softly asked as Tokiya squeezed her soft hand.

“You will know it later,” he gave a suggestive smile before kissing her hand affectionately.

* * *

 

 **Haruka** walked slowly as she passed the city.

_I have something to do right now so let’s meet up in front of the Tonda building later. Izumi will stay with the others and their children._

What’s that even meant anyway? Why didn’t Izumi stay with us?

Learning from a lesson, instead of boldly exposing herself as Ichinose Tokiya’s wife, Haruka covered half of her face with a scarf. 

“This is the place, right?” she looked around and suddenly, she felt nostalgic when her mind served the memory of the place.

It has been a long time, right? I met Hayato-sama here, I fell in love with his song, his voice..

This was also the place where Tokiya-kun sang Crystal Time as an advertisement.

The song.. the lyrics.. the voice... They were all so enchanting to listen to.

She suddenly missed the moment.

Come to think of it, the magnum opus that he talked about during the talk show... which song is it? Why did he refuse to tell me?

“ _Konbanwa, minnasan._ I am STARISH’s Ichinose Tokiya.”

She could feel her heart skipped a beat as the charming voice of her husband, along with himself suddenly popped out in the big tv screen which functioned specially to spread any news from Shining Agency. 

She lifted her chin up. A pair of golden orbs sized up as the image of Tokiya with a prince attire was standing handsomely.

He is not going to sing that song, right?

“I don’t want anyone else but you to listen to this song.”

A sudden big female crowd around Haruka suddenly cheered and squealed as they figured out that Tokiya was going to release a new song. 

A string of familiar piano sound could be heard before the idol started singing....

 _kimi no se ni nemuru tsubasa wa  
kaze dake o matteru  
mi o makasete me o tsumutte  
kanjiru hazu atatakasa o  
  
hikaru oka de machitsudzukeru  
kimi ga habataku yume  
te o tsunaide shinjite hora  
issho ni tobitatou  
  
omoidashite (Feel My Heart)  
ano egao o (Feel My Love)  
tomaranai Music (Music)  
niji no Melody (Melody)  
towa ni kirameku　SUTĀDASUTO SONGU  
  
oboete imasu ka? Princess? (KIRARI)  
nanairo no KONPASU wa (KIRARI)  
suishou no youni hora　mata mirai ni kagayaku  
maigo no KOKORO nakanai de  
itsu datte kimi no soba ni iru  
sasageru toki no Dream　_ tomo ni kizamou yo  
_Feel It, Crystal Time_

That was.. Certainly a magnum opus, the composer mentally remarked as her heart still thumped faster.

Haruka continued to stare at the screen in amazement while the other fans around her complimented the song ecstaticly.

“Tokiya’s new single is awesome, right?”

“Maybe he sang it to his wife? How sweet!”

“He even opposed Shining Saotome so that he would be allowed to date his wife back then.”

“I know right? That was really cool!”  

“Tokiya-kun..” Haruka muttered as something from ten years ago crossed her mind.

_“You know what? Out of all these songs, I think I want to keep this all by myself until I find the right time to sing it.”_

  _“Why?”_

_“Beats me..”_

Did he keep the song for so long because he wanted to do this?

When she immersed in her thought, a random person bumped into her, caused her to fall, with knees first, onto the ground.

“Ah, _sumimasen_..” it was weird when she was the one who apologized but it just came out from her mouth.

“Are you alright?”

Again, her heart skipped a beat when for some reasons, Tokiya’s voice sounded so close with her.

Her eyes were served with a big hand with slender fingers, reaching out to her. She slowly lifted her head up before feeling breathless to see Tokiya’s appearance.

He wore a dark blue kimono with bamboo patterns, a scarf covering half of his face and a pair of glasses. To put it simply, it was the same outfit when the late Tokiya invited her to the festival before. What an incredible coincidence!

When in fact, she should not be that surprised since the late Tokiya is this Tokiya after all. Of course they would think about the same thing including what to wear today.

“Ehh? Ichi... No, Toki... crap!” she quickly shut her mouth before she spilled the beans.

He smiled affectionately at her as he knelt down. “People will see us. Let’s go.”

Dear God, what’s the deal with this guy? He always knows how to make me happy.

* * *

 

 ** _“Matsuri..”_** the memory of her and Tokiya went to festival together reached her.

At that time, she never thought that when she was so stressed out about coming up with the best song ever so that STARISH would not be disbanded, Tokiya, who always looked aloof was the one who got worried about her the most.

And at that time, she never thought that going to a festival was basically his plan to cheer her up and as a medium for him to let her know that he would always there beside her.

 His words was the one who saved her with the sentences...

_“I love your songs. The songs of your true self.”_

The songs which could make the people happy. Not the one who could beat HEAVENS, their rival at that time.

And now, she could not ask for a better present from him. She found that she was extremely lucky to experience the same kind of date with Tokiya.

She scanned her surrounding. Everything about the stall remained the same. The stalls arrangement, the stall owners, the games... everything was here.

 _“Sa, ikimashou..”_ he smiled at her, sending her to drag herself to the reality.

“Well, I..”

Grr...

“Eh?” the couple spontaneously pulled a blank face as someone’s stomach shamelessly growled.

* * *

 

 **Aaaaaaaaaaa!** Haruka really wanted to scream out of embarrassment. This was supposed to be a romantic date.

The way Tokiya sang to her, the way Tokiya looked at her with that loving and blue orbs... Everything was just perfect.  

But, all those things were suddenly ruined by her growling stomach.

What the hell? Why did it copy the exact same situation when I was with the late Tokiya-kun? I don’t need my growling stomach, though!    

“I am sorry...” she could not lift her head up as she fought with her embarrassment. Instead, her orbs fixed on the _takoyaki_ on her lap.

“Don’t be modest. Just go ahead..” Tokiya encouraged.

“Er.. _hai_ ,” Haruka sheepishly blew the still hot food, unaware of the affectionate stare from her husband. 

“Have you been eating properly?” he remarked out of concern.

“Well..” she startled as she was caught.

 “You are unbelievable. When you’re focused on your work, you’re incapable of taking care of yourself.”

That made Haruka felt like being slapped.

“ _Hora._ It will be cold,” Tokiya fed the round food into her mouth.

With a perplexed face, she chewed the dish, sending him to chuckle at her cuteness.

“You really need someone who will take care of you just like how I was. For some reasons, I am happy to see you helpless like this. At least, it gives me a reason to take care of you all night.”

Haruka had a hard time to restrain herself from fainting.

* * *

 

 **They** did what the other couple would typically do together in the festival.

Gun shooting... Tokiya helped her winning STARISH CD. He was surprisingly skillful when he claimed that this was the first time he went to this kind of festival, let alone playing the game.

Next, Tokiya suddenly suggested them to watch a short movie; something that he though was an unique activity in the midst of the festival.

“Let’s watch this one,” he showed a horror movie poster, much to Haruka’s alarm.

“I.. I am not good with this kind of movie.”

In fact, she hated it. Even the ghost house which was decorated by a bunch of kids would scare the hell out of her.

“It’s okay. Instead of properly watching the movie, why don’t we play a game instead?”

“Huh? What game?”

As soon as she joined him, Haruka never thought that instead of feeling the urge to embrace or getting lovey-dovey with Tokiya, this time, she really wanted to slap him.

Why? Because of this.

“Let’s guess which direction will the ghost pop out from.”

“What? No! I don’t want!”

“Come on. It will be fun. Just look at the lamp. You know why the camera suddenly focused on it?” Tokiya pointed at the dim lamp in the movie.

“Wh..Why?” Haruka tugged at Tokiya’s sleeve, seeking for some protection.

“Because the ghost will appear...” the camera showed a door, right in front of the protagonist who trapped in a run-down house.

“In front?”

“No, it is the back of the lady..” as soon as Tokiya stated it, almost the whole crowd including Haruka screamed in terror as a lady with a creepy frame appeared from the screen.

Apparently, being an in demand actor made Tokiya somehow could guess such random thing correctly.

“Tokiya-kun, pleaseee.... Let’s get out of here,” she did not want to be wimpish but as mentioned above, she was so afraid with ghosts.

“It’s okay. You can snuggle to me all you want.”

The rosette suddenly blushed at the thought of the word ‘snuggle’.

“If you say so, then, perhaps... can I snuggle to you until the next morning?” she lifted her chin up, meeting eyes with Tokiya’s out of anticipation.

“Of course. Like I said before, I will take care of you for the rest of the night.”

The rosette blushed more.

Next, another thing that Haruka learned about Tokiya was no matter how many times she returned to her past, Tokiya still could not scoop any goldfish to save his life.

No matter how many times she returned to her past to see Tokiya, he would show that comically exasperated _chibi_ face when he still failed to scoop even a fish.

While Haruka.. She would laugh at his reaction but stopped herself soon and blushed when he curved in a handsome smile, just for her.

* * *

 

 **Currently** they were sitting on a bench, sharing an apple candy.

“Actually, I have something to give you,” with a slight blush on his striking face, he undid a rectangle-shaped necklace around his neck before putting it around hers.

“You.. you give it to me?” knowing that the dark blue necklace is his favourite accessory and he has worn it for countless times since his debut as Hayato, it made her heart so thrilled.

“Yes. I want you to have it. I am sorry if you feel disgusted by my sweat or something since I have worn it..” Tokiya paused as he had a better look at her, wearing the necklace. “So many times.”

In his eyes, Haruka looked so cute with the white dress but to see her wearing such a rugged item was...

“No, it doesn’t suit you,” much to her dismay, that was his comment in the long run. “Forget that I gave it to you. I will buy you something else instead.”

“What!? No!” Her tiny hands restrained his much larger hand from undoing the necklace. “You cannot just take it back, Tokiya-kun! It’s already mine!”

“But it doesn’t suit a cutie pie like you. Silly me. I should give you a heart-shaped necklace or something..” Tokiya facepalmed while resisting his urge to hit his head to any nearby wall, atoning for his ‘silly’ mistake.

“It’s okay, you perfectionist! _Mou,_ even in romantic time like this, you are still petty like always,” Haruka pouted chidishly.

“Okay, okay. If you want it that bad, suits yourself,” he chuckled.

“Of course I want it that bad. It’s from you afterall,” she continued to pout.

In her mind, she just pretend to sulk but in his mind, he felt sorry and thankful for her devotion to him.

“I love you, Tokiya-kun,” the next thing Tokiya realized was Haruka already wrapped her arms around his body.

Again.. that precious confession...

“Tonight, I am so happy because I can relish my moments together with the late Tokiya. Back then, I was just impressed with Crystal Time, with the way he sang it but I was so stupid to realize his feeling to me. But tonight, you made me relishing the moment again. Not to mention, together with Izumi, you gave me a chance to build my own family.. the family that the late Tokiya used to dream of.. It was a nice sight to see how you have been such a good father to Izumi.”

Her words just broke his heart more.

I am not, Haruka!

“Thank you, Tokiya-kun. Thank you for tonight.. Thank you for your presence in my life,” this time, along with her loving embrace, Haruka kissed his forehead. Long And soft.

 Why she had to be melancholic and cheesy like this when they were supposed to have fun?

_“And yet, you think that giving her a false hope and temporary happiness is a great thing? You can be so stupid sometimes, Tokiya.”_

He smiled as Cecil’s sarcastic remark reached his mind.

I would rather being stupid in order to make her happy like this because seeing her crying is the last thing that I want to see.

* * *

 

 **_‘I_ ** _am tired. I am lazy. I am sleepy. My car doesn’t want to go to your house so Izumi will sleep over at my house. Your son is cute anyway. Unlike you :P’_

What a childish reply, Tokiya frowned as he received a message from Cecil after asking the prince about his son. He put his cell phone on a drawer next to his bed before shutting his eyes, attempting to sleep before he was startled by a warm hug around his waist.

“Haruka..” he turned to face Haruka who was all smiling as she snuggled closer to him.

 “You promised me just now that I could snuggle to you until the next morning. This is the punishment for making me watched the horror movie with you, Tokiya-kun,” she pouted in dissatisfaction.          

So cute... Tokiya thought as his heart thumped so fast.

For a second, I used to think that it’s the best if I don’t know you because I cannot stay longer with you, Haruka, his heart whispered in pain as he stared at her delighted face.

“Tokiya-kun..” Haruka called out even it was obvious in his eyes that she was so tired and sleepy.

“Yes?”

“I love you,” she drowsily said before drifting off.

His whole body was stiff. He should be happy to be loved by Haruka this much but...

How would he remain happy when he could not stay longer by her side?

“I love you too,” he pecked her on the forehead before wrapping her into his arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 27 is done! I totally made up the scene where they watched the horror movie during the festival, just for the spice. And also.. I know this topic is too old but I couldn't help but fangirling everytime I watched the scene from Season 2 where Tokiya and Haruka had a date in the festival. Tokiya was so sweet which made me excited to include the scene into this story ^^. As usual, please let me know what do you think about this chapter, okay? Matta ne!!


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the truth found its way to be revealed...

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

**Ichinose** Izumi.

His existence brought a mysteriously beautiful feeling called a father’s love to his son in Ichinose Tokiya’s life.

When he learned about how Haruka used to be pregnant with the late Tokiya’s child, he could not help but wanting to experience by himself how did it feel to have one.

Even he did hesitate due to his young age, at the end, Tokiya wanted to see his son by himself.

The son who the late Tokiya never learned about.. Tokiya wanted to be a good father for him. 

When Izumi was born, a sudden and cryptic happiness hit him. He loves everything about the baby, to the point of sacrificing his life was not a big deal as long as he could provide the best life for the baby.

Just when he dreamed about what should he do to spend his short time with Izumi...

 “Tokiya, Izumi is your first child with Haruka which means he is also the child who was dead in her tummy because of the accident. Even for the currect universe, he was born when you were 22, he still will survive until you reach 29 which is when the late Tokiya dead. You and your son will die on the same date, Tokiya.”

Cecil confessed to him something that he should be aware from the start.

Compared to him, Izumi had way smaller chance to live his life longer.

It broke his heart. What would Haruka feel if she lost both of them..

Again?

So he made up his mind. He must do something about his family.

Even though that would mean, it would be a ‘bit’ lost in his side, he did not care.

After all, he was already contented with his life after meeting with Haruka and his friends.

They gave him more reasons to live his life.

“I love you, daddy!” A soft touch from a pair of cute hands on his thighs dragged him back to reality. Tokiya’s blue eyes met Izumi’s before spontaneously forming a loving smile.

“I love you too, dear,” Tokiya stroked Izumi’s cheek, sending the child giggled.

“Are you hungry? Do you want to eat breakfast with daddy?”

“I want! I want!” Izumi jumped ecstaticly with the thought of eating breakfast with his father before he scanned around, searching for another person who loves him more than anything in this world. “Daddy, where is mummy?”

“Mummy have a work to do so daddy will take care of Izumi until afternoon, okay?”

“Yeayyy, at home with daddy!”

* * *

 

**“Daddy,** look here! Look here!” Izumi took out a big picture frame-sized cardboard from his bedroom after eating breakfast with Tokiya.

“What is it? Did you make it by yourself?” Tokiya could see a few sentences on the cardboard.

What happened next was heart-rending.        

  1. _I want to be a good son for daddy and mommy._
  2. _I want to take care of daddy and mommy._
  3. _I want to work for daddy and mommy._
  4. _I want to sing like daddy. Daddy and mommy must come see me on stage._
  5. _I want to sing with daddy._



“Ohkura _sensei_ gave us a homework about dream. A dream is what we want to do when we grow up, right, daddy?” the clueless boy ecstaticly explained his homework.

“Yeah, right,” it took all for Tokiya to not feel obviously despondent in front of his son. “Have you.. have you done it?”

“No! There are still a lot of things that I want to do with mommy and daddy when I am big like you. There are a lot!” Izumi made a big circle with his short hands, making him looked much more adorable.

But I don’t have enough time to see you growing up, dear.

 “Let’s see..” without having a single idea about how painful his father felt right now, Izumi took out a blue marker from his Doraemon pencil case before writing his sixth dream.

“Number six... I want... to see daddy.. and mommy smile everyday!” Izumi excitedly wrote on the cardboard. 

God, how will my son look like if he grows up? I really want to see him, Tokiya clenched his fist, struggling to keep calm and smiling just like what his son dreamed of.

“Number seven... I want to.. make daddy and mommy happy... with 100 marks in exam..”

No. Tokiya absolutely could not take this anymore.

“Izumi,” he indirectly stopped his son from blurting out his dreams that Tokiya knows, there is no way it will come true. He scooped the five-years-old boy up into his embrace before placing him on his lap.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” the oblivious little kid touched Tokiya’s cheek worriedly.

“Izumi.. Let’s.. Let’s just stop putting the word ‘daddy’ in every sentence, okay?”

“Eh, why? I want to do everything with daddy... and mummy too!”

Because daddy cannot make your dreams come true, dear.

“Izumi, actually daddy has something to tell you but please, don’t tell mummy. Promise?” He pushed out his pinky, which was immediately accepted by Izumi.

 “Promise!” Both the small and much bigger little fingers intertwined, indicating a promise.

“Daddy cannot live here with Izumi and mummy anymore. Daddy.. daddy have to go.”

“W..where?” the big eyes who always looked at Tokiya in admiration and love turned in despair and that was the thing that Tokiya wished he would never see from Izumi. “Where do you want to go, daddy?”

“To a very nice place..” he tried to rephrase what he wanted to say into simpler words yet much to his surprise, it managed to make Izumi crying instantly.

“To a very nice place? Do you mean.. heaven?” Apparently, Izumi did not need to be a genius to process Tokiya’s words. This child knew more than he was expected. “But daddy... Ohkura sensei used to tell me that if someone goes to heaven, it means..” Izumi continued crying, making him hard to talk properly. “Daddy, please don’t leave me. I love you, daddy. Mummy also loves daddy so much. Don’t you love us, daddy? Why do you have to go? Why can’t you take us together?”

Izumi hugged Tokiya tighter. He was too afraid to have the thought that his daddy would leave him one day.

He wanted his daddy to be there when he grew up like him. His daddy cannot go just like that!

 “No! I cannot take you together,” Tokiya hugged his precious son back. “Look at here.”

He carefully took Izumi’s cardboard before showing it to his still crying son. “Number one, you want to be a good son for mommy and me, right?”

The child just nodded while wiping his tears.

“Number three, you want to work for daddy and mommy, right?”

“I want.”

“Number four, you want to sing like daddy, right?”

“I want,” just when Tokiya thought that Izumi calmed down a bit, the child suddenly burst into tears again. “But... I want daddy to see me sing on stage! Daddy cannot go!”

“I will watch you, dear. I promise I will watch you.”

“You promise?” now it was Izumi’s turn to ask for Tokiya’s pinky, indicating the second promise between both of them.

“I promise,” Tokiya smiled in relief. “Another promise.”

“What is it, daddy?”

“When I go there, please be a good boy for mommy, okay? Don’t make mummy cry. Always make mummy smile. Promise?”

Don’t make mummy cry. Don’t be bad like daddy.

“Promise!”

“Please don’t cry anymore,” his thumb ran across those cute cheeks, attempting to stop Izumi from crying. “Now, let’s sing together for mummy, okay?”

“Okay!”

* * *

 

**Haruka** was checking on Izumi who was still sleeping like a log on his bed when she received a visit from other STARISH members.

“ _Hai,_ I am coming,” she responded to the ringing bell before swinging the door open.

“Nanami/Haru-chan, we are coming!” Otoya, Syo and Natsuki grinned while Ren and Masato smiled chummily at her.

“Come in, come in!” even she was muddled with their sudden visit, she did not really mind. As she closed the door, she could see a certain person who unlike his usual self, looked much more serious.

It was Cecil. He seemed struggling with something while others also looked as bemused as her.

“Where did you guys come from? I mean.. if you guys want to discuss about the song for the concert, Tokiya-kun is not here.”

“We know,” Cecil’s expression remained serious which somehow scared every single soul in the house. “That’s why we are here.”

“Or rather, that’s why you forced the rest of us to come here with you,” Syo rolled his eyes. “Except this Kuppuru guy, the rest of us also don’t know why the hell we are even at your house, Nanami.”

Haruka could feel her heart beat increasing out of the blue. Something has definitely happened. She was positive with her hunch, especially when Cecil did not look playful as always. 

“What’s wrong, Cecil-san?”

“Haruka..” as he held her shoulders, she could feel his hands was trembling while his expression turned grief-stricken. “It’s about Tokiya. I cannot stand to keep you guys from knowing the truth so while he is not here, I want to clarify something important. Something that you guys should know from the start.”

Those eyes with different colors widened in puzzlement while they could feel their heart rates increased.

“Cesshi, don’t tell me..” Ren stared dubiously at the Agnapolis prince. “Don’t tell me you and Icchi have a secret together?”

Cecil nodded reluctantly. “Something that stressed him out.”

“That explained why Ichinose looked crestfallen these days..” Masato responded.

“Hijirikawa-san, you noticed that too?” Haruka’s question received a small nod from the blue head.

“ _Ne,_ Cecil... I don’t know what exactly happened but...” the red eyes of Otoya looked gloomier. “Is that something to do with Tokiya’s lifespan?”

“Yeah, _minna-san._ Forgive me but... instead of dying in next two years... the truth is, due to a certain circumstance, Tokiya has less than a month to live.”

“Huh!?” some of the group members responded aggresively while the others sized up their eyes in horror.

“Less than a month?” Otoya’s red orbs started to glisten with tears while Natsuki just stared blankly at Cecil, unable to mutter even a word.

“Yes.. And just so you know, it is not only me but our president and Haruka’s _obachan_ also already knew the fact. Tokiya told them a long time ago..”

“You dumbass! Why did you just tell us now!?” Syo shouted in rage. “We returned to our past so that we can change what we had regretted and Nanami can relish more time together with Tokiya! But what the hell did you do, Cecil!? Why, you..”

“Do you think I also want this frigging thing to happen!? Do you think I also want to see my friend’s life turned shitty!? Not in seven hells I would make my friend die without a reason!” For the first time in everyone’s life, Cecil snapped furiously. It really showed that he was stressed out with this particular dilemma. 

 “Cecil-san...” it broke the prince’s heart to see how Haruka was struggling to accept the most devastating truth in her life. His expression gradually turned softer.

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Haruka grabbed Cecil’s arms with her shivered hands. “How’s that even possible!? He should have two years left, Cecil-san! How can..”

 “Because he gave his life to Izumi,” his simple answer sent the others shocked.“Haruka, your first child with the late Tokiya was the baby who was dead in your tummy, remember? The baby is Izumi. Izumi’s real life span was only three weeks and when Tokiya learned about it, he told me that he would do anything so that you would not suffer again. He also wanted his child to live longer but I tell you what. Even I managed to use magic to transfer his two-years life span to Izumi but we still do not know how long will Izumi live. I can only guarantee that his life span will be longer than 30 years.”

“When did he even consider this thing?” Ren asked, struggling to calm down even the whole situation itself was absurd and unacceptable.

 “Back then, when we were still at school or to be specific, when he and I were in detention,” Cecil looked around and expectedly, his friends still could not accept the truth. “He said, it broke his heart to see Haruka struggled with both her husband and unborn child’s death. He wants to give what Haruka cannot achieve on that day.”

“Tokiya-kun...” when Haruka felt that her love to the said guy grew stronger, she also felt the urge to resent him. “But why... why didn’t he tell me anything? Why he..”

“Is it not obvious, Haruka?” Cecil gave her a soft smile. “You know how stubborn and steadfast he is right? As long as he thinks that what he did is the right thing, he will never let anyone to stop him. Not even you because he loves you so much, Haruka.”

Haruka’s tears dropped again while the others..

They basically had the same thought in their minds.

The fact that until now, Haruka still chose Tokiya out of them is the best decision ever because...

The guy treasures Haruka more than his own life.

“And Haruka... I am sorry but I am afraid I have to be harsh with you.”

“What do you mean, Cecil-san?”

The prince sighed heavily as he put his hands on the composer’s shoulders. “Haruka, I understand your feeling. You are traumatized with the though that Tokiya will leave you again but I beg you..” all of them were devastated to see how despondent Cecil looked. “Please let him go, Haruka. Please let Tokiya leave us in peace. We are just human beings. It is impossible for us to stop him from leaving us. Please don’t torture him again. Because of us.. Tokiya has suffered all by himself. All this time, we unconsciously burdened him to fulfill our expectation just because we could not move on from the way the late Tokiya left us. Your so-called atonement, Haruka.. Actually made Tokiya believed that no matter what he did, he could never satisfy you. Why? Because you constantly and unconsciously pressured him with your love, saying that you don’t want him to leave you.”

Haruka was gobsmacked to talk because she was mentally cursing herself to be so oblivious about what Tokiya felt.

All this time, she was too selfish. All she cared was her feeling and her so-called ‘start-over with Tokiya’ mission.

When in fact, she should accept that she would lose Tokiya again.

* * *

 

**Tokiya** knelt down, letting his long and slender fingers felt the sensation of the grave. That was his habit when he was depressed with his work as Hayato.

But recently, he would come to Ichinose Akira’s grave when he felt heartbroken, just from the thought of he would leave everything and everyone that were irreplaceable in his life.

He needed a comfort from his late father even he could not meet the old man’s blue eyes anymore.

_“Konbanwa, otosan..”_ he smiled bitterly as his eyes stared down at the grave. “How do you do? Well, for me, it feels.. it feels like a drama everyday. I am happy but I am sad. I am sad but I am happy. My life has been like a chronic disease patient with zero cure, counting for my death. The closer I get with the day, the more I feel that I don’t want to leave my family, my friends... But, at least, I can meet you there.. Soon enough, we will meet, _otousan_..”

“This morning, I spent time with my Izumi. He is so cute, _otousan_. He is smart and like everybody said, he admires me the most. He wants to be like me when he grows up, not to mention... he always asked me, ‘daddy, when I can be tall like you? When can I be as handsome as you?’ which reminded me that.. that were some questions that I used to ask you back then when I was small. I asked you that because I thought you are the most amazing guy that I have ever met. You went all through to support me, to be a good father for me. You were so hardworking to the point of it boosted me to be a good person like you too. And now, you see me, right? These blue eyes.. This blue hair.. I resembled you so much. So much that it might be the reason why _oka_.. I mean.. Megumi-san hates me. But, it’s okay. I don’t like her anyway.”

“Speaking about Izumi, this morning, he.. He..” Tokiya found himself hard to speak as the list of Izumi’s dreams crossed his mind. “His teacher gave a homework which required him to list down his dream and... basically, all his dreams are about me and Haruka. He wants to give a better life for his parents but.. there is no way he can make it because I will leave him soon. He only managed to fulfill his dream with Haruka.”

“I really want to continue bringing him up with Haruka. He is our dream together so.. to think that Haruka will raise our son alone is.. unacceptable. I want to be there beside her. I want to smile proudly, together with her.. I want to comfort Izumi together with Haruka if our son have a hard time..”

“Maybe, from the start, I should not start anything with Haruka. You know what, _otousan_? The woman that I love is so amazing. She has other six guys who used to love her because of her beautiful heart.. She has became the source of light for seven of us. Not only that, she is also a very popular composer. Everyone admires her talent and I guess.. sooner or later, she will meet someone who can easily replace me.”

The thought of Haruka eventually met her happiness with another guy made him smiling. He has no longer has this kind of selfish side which made him believing that Haruka is only his.

“Maybe I should not love her to begin with, _otousan_..” as he muttered the last word, he did not realize there were many foot steps right behind him until...

“What the hell are you on about, Tokiya? Nanami is yours. Nobody can change that,” Syo’s fake scold bewildered Tokiya, sending the blue head turned his head nervously. Not to mention, the so-called toughest guy in STARISH suddenly started crying.

“You guys.. why are you guys doing here?”

“To see you, Icchi..” Ren put a plastic smile that Tokiya was so accustomed to. The smile did not really show that the ex-playboy was happy.

“Why?”

“Why didn’t you tell us about you, sacrificing your life for Izumi-chan, Tokiya-kun?” rather than being answered, Tokiya was bombarded with questions and scolds, starting from Natsuki.

“We are friends, right, Ichinose? Friends are supposed to know your pain and help you through thick and thin. I am so disappointed with you,” Masato’s voice sounded full of frustration.

“Tokiya, you shitty dumbass! How dare you keep the most important secret from us!?”

Tokiya gasped in horror.

“Otoya, where did you learn to swear like that?” out of those mental and emotional attacks, Tokiya decided to react to Otoya’s curse, rather dramatically.

“From you because you always made our blood boiled with your stupid plans,” for the first time in everyone’s life, Otoya looked insanely angry and no longer putting his usual angelic and _genki_ expression. Finally his fierce color code matched his personality. He grabbed the colar of Tokiya’s sweater while for others, instead of stopping the red head, they just let Otoya did whatever he pleased because Tokiya obviously deserved it.“Not to mention that you always followed your own pace. You planned with Syo to bring down Satsuki. You planned by yourself to rebel against the president, you helped Natsuki and Tomo-chan made up in your own way and now you..” 

“Otoya..” Tokiya felt his heart sinking as his bestfriend cried all of sudden.

“You will leave us soon but we learned about that just now...” the red head suddenly got even angrier. “You selfish bastard!”

“Otoya..”

“I am sorry, Tokiya. I cannot keep becoming your accomplice anymore. They have the rights to know the truth. I told you, it’s better if we told them from the start but you were so obstinate that I cannot stand with it anymore. I think it’s the time for me to spill the beans,” Cecil justified, receiving a single nod from the blue head.

“That’s very nice of you, Aijima-san. Thank you so much for your help all this time,” instead of scolding Cecil like he always did everytime the A from STARISH picked a fight with him, Tokiya formed a warm smile before diverting his attention to the others. “ _Minnasan,_ I am sorry.”

Tokiya never thought that his simple apology was like a stab on each of his friend and Haruka who just stood silently without even letting out any single comment to her husband.

Instead, she just looked down to the ground with mixed feelings.

It was not Tokiya who should apologize. It should be us, all of them except Tokiya had this kind of thought before Syo blurting out;

“It should be us, Tokiya. We are the one who should apologize for everything we have done to you,” the light blue orbs trembled, indicating that he was going to cry again.

“It’s all thanks to you, Tokiya-kun. We’ve made this far in our life, in our career, in our love life because of you. I would not look at Tomo-chan the same way if it is not because of you,” Natsuki convinced.

“I don’t think you guys need to apologize. In fact, I could not be thankful enough. I would not get such awesome friends like you guys when I used to believe that I would be forever alone and I would not get such nice family members like Haruka and Izumi. I also could plan everything that I want to achieve as long as I am still alive. I think it’s a win-win situation.”

His remark just made the guys in STARISH turned speechless.

“Nanami?” Otoya put a puzzled face as out of the blue, Haruka slowly approached Tokiya.

A creepily blank face. That was enough to describe her expression.

Logically, she would get angry with him. But the most important matter was, how would she express her anger? Which part of his secret pushed her buttons the most? Tokiya could not even reckon anymore.

“Come here. I want to see your father,” she grabbed his hand before dragging him along to the front side of Akira’s grave.

She inhaled nervously while the rest of the souls there stayed in perplexity.

“ _Konbanwa, otousan. Haruka desu_. I believe you have seen everything that your son did, right? What? You also think that Tokiya is triple S? What is triple S? Oh, they are stubborn, selfish and stupid? Yeah, yeah, you are absolutely right. You are amazing, _otousan_! Haha.”

“That’s not nice, Haruka,” Tokiya’s hurt comment gained himself laughter from his friends. Obviously, they all agreed with Haruka.  

“You deserved that,” Cecil muttered in satisfaction but gained himself a scowl from Tokiya.  

“Yeah, Cecil-san is right. I believe, if _otousan_ is still alive, he will smack you with a paper fan for being this stupid.”

Tokiya just bit his lips in dissatisfaction but of course, he could not agree more with Haruka.

“Actually, _otousan.._ apart from saying that this beloved son of yours is extremely triple S...” Haruka squeezed Tokiya’s much bigger hand in her grab. “I  am here to ask you to be our witness.”

“Eh? What witness?” when he received no answers from Haruka, Tokiya turned to his friends but they immediately avoided his eyes and ignored him.

She suddenly faced him with such a loving smile that instantly melted Tokiya’s heart.

“Tokiya-kun...” she took a deep breath as her golden eyes never left his. “No matter how short the time that you will spend with me after this, it doesn’t matter anymore. Be officially yours and have your surname is one of my life goals...” Tokiya could feel his blue eyes suddenly turned watery as he could guess the direction of this confession. 

“I am glad to be yours. I am proud of myself because I chose a very great guy who is not only devoted to me but being a great father to my child. Thank you so much, Tokiya-kun. Thank you for being my source of light. Thank you for everything.”

“Haruka..” he really wanted her to stop being melodramatic because apart from he himself was this close to shed tears, he found it cheesy to act such in front of his friends.

But no words come out. It was just stuck in his throat.

“I love you, Tokiya-kun. You have been my inspiration, my first love, my first boyfriend and my husband... So..” she squeezed his cold hand as she stared lovingly into his glistened eyes. “Will you be my last love, Ichinose Tokiya?”         

Tokiya could barely hear cheers coming from his friends because to say that he was so happy with the proposal was understatement.

In fact, as he heard the proposal, a few drop of tears rolled down his fair-skinned cheeks. He continued to stare at her, so lost to even form a proper answer that the only line that he could mutter was....

“I am sorry, Haruka.. I am so sorry..” his eyes locked on the ground. He felt ashamed to look straight into the sincere eyes of Haruka.

He was sorry for making her suffered. He was sorry for being selfish.

“Oi, Tokiya! What are you sorry for? Say ‘I will’ you idiot!” Syo shouted impatiently.

“What? Tokiya is crying?” Otoya wiped his eyes as if his eyesight just deceived him temporarily.

“Ichinose, come on! Since when you become this sissy? Crying is not your thing, you know? Stop embarrassing me as your twin!” Masato completely lost his calmness.

“Come on, Tokiya-kun! Say ‘I will’!” Natsuki acted more like a cheerleader for Tokiya.

But their irritating encouragements just fall on deaf ears. Instead, Tokiya kept crying, too ashamed to meet eyes with his wife.

“Tokiya-kun, you are such a crybaby,” Haruka wrapped her tiny arms around his much bigger body while chuckling. “You are supposed to say ‘I will’ when you get a proposal, you silly.”

“Whose fault do you think it was?” he slightly protested, realizing that she had fun teasing him.“And just so you know, I only cried twice when you are around.”

“Yeah, yeah..”

Tokiya continued to bawl his eyes out in her arms.

_Congratulations, Tokiya. You’ve got yourself such an amazing wife. Now, stop crying. Look who’s coming._

Tokiya lifted his head up as he somehow could hear his father’s voice in his head. He gasped as his eyes served him with the sight of a beautiful woman, with a sad face, approached Akira’s grave.

“Megumi-san?”

 


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The concert, Megumi-san and...

CREDITS TO : UTA NO PRINCE SAMA and KAROKE-LYRICS.NET (for We Are STARISH lyrics)

WE ARE STARISH!! (STARISH)  
  
_All: Koko ni utau ai wo komete  
O/M/N : hibike  
T/R/S/C: todoke  
All: egao no accapella de  
O/M/N: yami ni hikari wo  
T/R/S/C: are no ni hana wo  
All: kokoro wa oozora ni  
sekai ga ima kawaru  
(Legend Star)  
  
All:STARISH forever  
STARISH forever  
  
T: Mighty na yume wo  
S: Utaou ze justice!  
C: Visible yuuki  
R: Lovely na kisu wo  
M: Lasting wo mune ni  
N: Itsudatte grown  
O: Next chikatte!  
All: 3! We are STARISH  
2! Soshite  
1! STARISH forever  
  
R: Hoshi de sae inochi no honoo  
O: moyashite sa  
R/O: kagayaki tsukiru hi made  
  
S: 1000% tsuyoku  
C: ikite iru  
S/C: itsu kano nemuru tokima de  
  
T: eien tte nai no ka?  
M: tanoshii kono hi ni wa  
PIRIODO mukaeru no ka?  
N: iya sore wa chigau  
  
T/R/S/C: ima wo zenryoku de  
O/M/N: utau sore ga  
All: STARISH no eien  
  
All: koko ni chikau (STARISH)  
maji no love o (STARISH)  
owari (LOVE)  
no nai (LOVE)  
zettai no kizuna de  
  
All: nidoto konai (STARISH)  
kyo wo ikiru (STARISH)  
ginga no hoshitachi ga  
urayamu kagayaki de  
(Legend Star)_  
  
_All: saa ima kisu yori sugoi_  
uta ga hontou ni atta to wakaru  
sore wa kimi ga subete wo kakete  
O/M/N: namida shite  
T/R/S/C: aishita  
All: rekishi no kotae  
We are and you are STARISH  
  
All: koko ni yadoru (STARISH)  
inochi ga saku (STARISH)  
michibiku (LOVE)  
natte (LOVE)  
soshite mata mirai he  
  
All: densetsu to wa (STARISH)  
ima wo kasane (STARISH)  
yume wo miru mono dake ga  
tsukameru ten no hikari  
(Legend Star)  
  
All: STARISH forever  
STARISH forever

In the midst of the exhaustion but satisfaction, those seven guys smiled at each other.

Or to be more specific, everybody focused on Tokiya who could not help by being mesmerized by everything about the decisive concert.

The audience, their song which he confidently thought that it would defeat QUARTET NIGHT’s God’s Star and HEAVENS’s Immortal Inferno.

The harmony that he created with his six teammates was so amazing. 

The stadium suddenly turned silent as STARISH’s performance came to the end before slowly, the hall turned like a fiesta. Their fans screamed the name of the group with a lot of passion and admiration.

 “STARISH! STARISH! STARISH!”

It doesn’t matter if we don’t win as long as I sang this song with my friends, Tokiya mentally commented, not being aware that the others also thought the same thing.

Yet, not long after that, much to Tokiya’s surprise and gratification….

“The winner of Triple S Decisive Concert is…. STARISH!”

In this universe, STARISH was also the winner. They would be the opening artist for the Super Star Sports event which would be the door for their international debut.

* * *

 

**“Haruka,** Izumi, we won! We won!” Tokiya shouted like a child as he pulled both Haruka and Izumi into his embrace. After the announcement, they quickly went to the backstage to see their family.  

“Congratulations, honey, you guys,” Haruka exclaimed, trying hard to look as happy as her husband. She did not want to ruin Tokiya’s thrill because apparently…

The blue head was too happy with their success to the point of he was oblivious about something painful that crossed the others’ mind.

They won the decisive concert so that they could be the opening artist for Triple S event but…

Tokiya could not join them to perform in the event. There would be only six of them.

Nevertheless, they knew they should cherish their every single second with Tokiya before he left them forever.   

The other STARISH members were with their respective family and girlfriends including Syo who managed to win Risa’s heart again and persuaded her to let him taking care of her.

“Tokiya!” their buzz was suddenly interrupted by someone who approached them, all smiling at certain blue head. Despite her age, she still looked so beautiful with her red dress which perfectly fit her slender body and minimal make-up.

“Ah, Megumi-san!” Tokiya carefully put Izumi down from his embrace before walking towards the startled Megumi, not being aware that he just made himself a cynosure in the middle of the corridor.

Of course it would not be strange for a mother to come to congratulate her son on his mind-blowing performance and success but..

The son’s reaction as soon as he saw his mother was mind-boggling.

“Tokiya-kun, you called her..” Haruka who was speechless tried to whisper to Tokiya but she was stopped by Megumi who secretly muttered ‘it’s okay, Haruka’.

But still.. Everybody did not need to be a genius to see how hurt Megumi looked when Tokiya just casually called her ‘Megumi-san’ instead of _‘okasan’._

Nevertheless, Megumi knew she had no right whatsoever to demand Tokiya to call her _‘okasan’_ or something along the line because..

She was the one who abandoned him in the first place. She was the one who maltreated him so it would not be surprising at all if she lost the ‘mother figure’ image in the eyes of her own son. Maybe Tokiya just perceived her as someone who used to commit a sin to him instead of a mother who abandoned him. The fact that Tokiya already forgave her when she came to see him at Ichinose Akira’s grave was unthinkable until now, thanks to Haruka who secretly convinced her a few times to fix her relationship with Tokiya before it would be too late. She was eventually and fully convinced when Haruka brought Cecil to explain about their complicated circumstance and the returned-to-the-past thingy.

That was more than enough to make her realizing that all this time, she still loves Tokiya which led her to attend his son’s wedding.

Yet, much to her surprise, Masato honestly said to her that Tokiya was not ready to see her.

A few years passed with her avoided Tokiya because she was ashamed of him. Instead, Haruka contacted her numerous times just to talk and make Izumi getting chummy with his grandmother. Yet, seeing the bright Izumi just reminded her of the younger but depressed Tokiya.

“Ah, nanny also come!” Izumi shouted excitedly as he hugged Megumi’s long legs. “Daddy, why you call nanny like that? Nanny is your mother, right? Should be mummy or _okasan_!”

“Izumi-chan, it’s okay. It’s just a slip of the tongue,” Megumi caressed the soft blue hair lovingly.

While the others gasped at Izumi’s bluntness when they were struggling to not make Tokiya aware with his mistake.

While Tokiya..

 Damn.. I was so used to call her ‘Megumi-san’. I didn’t even realize that..

“ _Okasan_ , I am sorry. I never intended to..”

“It’s okay, dear. I totally understand that,” Megumi approached Tokiya to hug him but much to her dismay, his body turned stiff before awkwardly embracing her back.

Either the blue head was still traumatized with the fact that Megumi used to approach him just to hit or verbally attack him or he just felt awkward with the sudden affection, Megumi did not want to imagine it. She did want to cry pathetically here.

“Congratulations, Tokiya. Your father must be proud of you,” she rubbed his wide back softly before pulling away. “I have to go. See you again, Tokiya, everyone.”

“Thank you,” Tokiya flatly answered but Haruka knew, he just felt a strong guilt that he found it hard to let Megumi know.

They were so not used around each other. Like a stranger..

As Megumi was no longer in their sight, Haruka caressed her husband’s wrist, trying to gain his attention.

“Please call her later, Tokiya-kun. Please tell her exactly what you feel about her before it’s too late.”

“Haruka..” his blue orbs met hers, indirectly thanked her.

And so here he was, in their dressing room, nervously called Megumi.

“It’s awkward..” he mumbled to Haruka who sat next to him, holding his other hand.

“Sure it’s but it’s worth it. She will be really happy.”

“Do you think so? I really don’t know what to say if she picks up the phone… Ah, _moshi-moshi,_ Megu.. _Okasan_..” Tokiya turned more nervous, much to Haruka’s amusement.

The conversation lasted for a while but one thing for sure…

Tokiya managed to let Megumi knew how much he loves her despite her previous and cruel abandonment.

At least, he will leave us without any regrets and pains, Haruka thought as she stared at Tokiya’s bright face, enjoying his conversation with Megumi.

* * *

 

**The** following weeks were spent rather efficiently. Tokiya no longer participated STARISH’s projects. Saotome had announced a fake news that Tokiya would quit from entertainment industry due to health issue. Expectedly, it caused an uproar among his fans until now but instead, Saotome demanded Tokiya to focus on Haruka and Izumi.

Until finally, the day or to be exact, the most unwanted night has come.

The night which would separate Tokiya and all the precious people in his life forever.

“Guys, what are you doing here? You guys don’t have a work today?”

Was the first question that Tokiya asked the moment he saw his friends in front of his house door, almost gaining himself  a punch for asking that ultra stupid question. Not only STARISH members but Tomochika was also here.

“Shut up,” Syo still tried to act tough when in fact, his red and swollen eyes proved that he just cried before coming there. “We just want to wish Nanami ‘happy birthday’ again. Satisfied?”

“Excuse me for the disturbance,” Otoya led the others into the house, purposely avoiding his best friend’s eyes.

“Where is Haru-chan, _obachan,_ Megumi-san and Izumi-chan?” Natsuki asked, looking around the house.

“They sent Izumi to sleep,” Tokiya answered with his still annoyingly puzzled face.

“Don’t make that face, Icchi. Obviously we want to be here with you,” Ren chuckled bitterly while lightly punching Tokiya’s shoulder.

“Or do you think we just disturbed you with Haruka? Sorry, then,” Cecil asked sarcastically but this time, it did not get on Tokiya’s nerves.

Instead, he just thought that how we would miss every single moment, every single drop of blood and tear they shed together in order to make STARISH a top-notch idol group.

It was a pregnant pause as nobody did not even have a word to tell to each other.

“Well, it feels sufficiently awkward. Don’t you guys think so?” Tokiya giggled awkwardly but his friends just avoided his eyes, internally fighting with their sorrow.  “I will make some drinks then,” as he turned to walk to the kitchen, Tokiya could feel an arm suddenly pulled him backward before swiftly trapped him into a tight embrace.

It was Ren.

“We will miss you, Icchi.”

“Ren..”

Before Tokiya knew it, the others also hugged him from every direction, sending the blue head froze out of shock.

This is so awkward! Tokiya’s fair-skinned face suddenly turned red out of embarrassment. As the ex-member of STARISH, never in seven hells he ever thought that he would be stuck in this awkward situation with his friends, no matter how dramatic it could be.

But, come to think of it, since he made friends with them, he has experienced so many crazy but precious things that he, the-used-to-be-antisocial person never thought he would.

“We..will always remember you, Tokiya. STARISH will never be the same without you but we will always strive together as STARISH for you,” expectedly, Otoya already sobbed loudly.

“We promise we will never disband, Ichinose,” Masato remarked, followed by the nods from the others.

“After all we have Haruka’s songs, something that bond us forever,” Cecil commented.

“Thank you, you guys. Thank you so much,” Tokiya answered softly. “But first and foremost, let me say something.”

“Ehh?” his friends pulled away from their group hug.

“You, Otoya..” Tokiya pointed out to his best friend, “You have always being a very good best friend. If it’s not because of you, maybe until now, I will still think that having friends by your side is nonsensical. Thank you so much for that, Otoya. I am sorry for not being able to attend to your wedding with Nozomi-san but you have my prayer. And please, by all means, if you don’t have the moxie to watch horror movies yet, please don’t do that with Nozomi-san. Of course I don’t judge you for being a scaredy-cat but for someone who will become your wife, you will make Nozomi-san feels insecure.”  

_“Hai,”_ Otoya’s red eyes started to glisten with tears again.

I can’t watch movie with Tokiya anymore. Tokiya will never be there to coax me or buy me an ice cream.

“Hijirikawa-san..” he smiled at the one who sang‘Original Resonance’ with him. “All this time, I respect you as the one who is so composed and be such an amazing friend. I am proud to be called your twin and as long as you are there, I am not afraid with anything. Other than that, I hope that you and Shizuka-san will always be happy together. You should ask her to accompany you to the waterfall instead. But please make sure that it doesn’t have bears around.”

“Thank you, Ichinose..”

My waterfall friend and twin will leave me forever.

“Ren..” his attention turned to Rena’s father. “Knowing you, I finally understand how it feels to be a real idol. A real idol does not only sing with his heart but a real idol is also the one who spreads his love and treasures his fans well. I learned a lot from you. I hope you and your family will always be happy but please... I know Rena-chan is a very outgoing girl but please stop your daughter from kissing my son for so many times. He cried a lot because of Rena-chan.”

“Of course, Icchi..” Ren chuckled bitterly.

It’s lonely to be the sexiest idol without you, Icchi..

“Shinomiya-san..” he smiled at the glassed guy. “Just so you know, I always support your relationship with Shibuya-san. Just ignore those annoying comments on the internet. Just remember that those people have no life to the point of they nit-picked at you guys, saying that you guys don’t suit each other at all. And also, please, by all means, whatever happened between us, please just forget that. I don’t want you to shoulder the blame anymore, okay? Instead, please improve your cooking. ”

“Okay,Tokiya-kun,” unlike the typical him who would hug Tokiya everytime the blue head said something cool or being unconsciously cute, Natsuki just curved in a sad smile.

I really want you to taste my cooking if I really improve, Tokiya-kun.

“Syo,” his blue eyes met another blue eyes. “I hope you are happy with Yuma-san. Hey, what the doctor said about her lifespan is not always right, you know. Even Stephen Hawking also can survive for so long even the doctor said the vice versa. But, if something bad happens, I know you can endure it. Even you acted tough all the time when in fact, you could not walk along our school corridor because you are scared of ghosts, but you are truly strong. Yuma-san should know by now that she is so lucky to have you by her side.”

“Thank you..” Syo avoided his gaze from the blue eyes. He tried to summon his usual strength but to no avail.

But I really want you to comfort me when I feel weak, Tokiya..

“Aijima-san.. I know, words are not enough to thank you for giving me the chance to plan how can I make Haruka and Izumi happy even I cannot always be there for them. Thank you so much. But just please.. you know how much my son loves cats right? So, please don’t turn into that disturbing black cat again and deceives him. My Izumi is an innocent little kid so if you ever ruin that innocence, you will pay for the consequence.”

“You’re welcome. _Wakatta!_ Since you gave me the idea, I might as well turn into a cat again and snuggle to your son as well.”

I really want to see your funny face when you realize your son plays with a black cat, Tokiya..

“You jerk..” Tokiya muttered in chuckle. “Good luck, you guys. After this, it may be tough but I know you guys can do anything!”

They nodded, convincing him that they would be fine.

For the sake of him.

* * *

 

**“Having** fun with them?” Haruka asked as soon as Tokiya approached her in their shared bedroom.

“Apparently,” Tokiya pecked her forehead before swiftly taking out a box of jewellery to Haruka from a drawer. “Happy birthday, Haruka.”

“Thank you,” she opened the red box before gasping in surprise. “It’s beautiful, Tokiya-kun!”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

Tokiya leaned down on sleeping Izumi before giving him a long kiss on his cheek.

“I love you, Izumi. Daddy will miss you.. a lot,” he whispered incoherently but it still could be heard by his wife.

The wife who fought with herself to be the last person who would said goodbye to him with a smile.

Just like with STARISH, it felt so awkward. They had mixed feelings which were about to explode and they just could not find the right words to say to each other.

 “I love you, Haruka,” Tokiya suddenly confessed.

Who had thought that a simple confession would break her heart instead of making her on cloud nine?

Please don’t say goodbye yet. I still want to be with you.

“Thank you for being in my life,” he said as he trapped her small frame in his arms.

“No. It’s me who should say that to you. To imagine and relish the moment where I have a son with you, marrying you are unthinkable. Thank you for making it come true, Tokiya-kun,” she stroked his hair, gaining herself a soft smile on the pale face.

Yes. Recently, Tokiya’s face started to look pale and his body felt heavy. At the end, you could say that Saotome did not really deceive the public when he announced that Tokiya had some health issues that forced him to quit his job.

“You’re welcome,” the rosette turned puzzled when suddenly, Tokiya pulled a drawer open before taking out a big cardboard.

It was Izumi’s list of dreams

“Look at here. It’s Izumi’s homework. His teacher asked him to list down his dreams.”

  1. _I want to be a good son for daddy and mommy._
  2. _I want to take care of daddy and mommy._
  3. _I want to work for daddy and mommy._
  4. _I want to sing like daddy. Daddy and mommy must come to see me on stage._
  5. _I want to sing with daddy. Always._



Haruka turned to meet her eyes with Tokiya.

“He wants to do everything with us,” she told him.

“Yes.”

“If you are not here with us anymore, what should I do, Tokiya-kun? How am I supposed to explain to him about you leaving us?” 

“It’s okay. I already told him.”

“What?” She could not believe her ears but from Tokiya’s face expression, she knew he did not deceive her.

“Haruka..” he kissed her hand softly. “You know what it means when I said I love you?”

“Huh?”

“It means a lot..” he continued kissing her hand before staring at her, reminding her about the same kisses on her hand that the late Tokiya gave to her before he left her. “Listen here, Haruka. I love you means I care about you. I want only the best things happen to you and that’s why, even they are simple or boring, I tried my hardest to make you happy. Why? Because I don’t want to see this face,” he stroked her gloomy face. “You had gone through a lot. You beat your trauma, you came to your past because of me.. You stalked me back then because you wanted to help me. You worked hard to be my family and I tell you what? You are such a spooky girl because you are the stalker who eventually being my wife. And you know what the ‘wife’ term means? It means.. you are everything to me. You carry my surname, you are my other half which means again, you are going to be the daddy of Izumi as well.”

Her tears were going to drop but Tokiya immediately wiped it.

“Please don’t cry. Smile, Haruka, smile,” he softly curved her thin lips upward, sending her chuckled bitterly. “When the late Tokiya died, Otoya told me that you quitted from writing music. This is why I wanted to make you happy all the time. I am going to leave you, leave everything here but I am not going to tell you to move on or totally forget me because it will make me sound like a cruel husband. Instead, with your music, your talent, your determination, you can go far away than you achieved now. Your music.. I love them so much. It gives everyone the happiness including me. They totally portrayed you, Haruka.. As someone who will do anything just for the sake of everyone who are precious in her life.”

“You need to be happy in order to create those kind of music. So, after I leave, when I remember you as the spooky girl, I want you to remember me as the guy who confessed to you in such a lame way. I am the guy who used to pass out in your arms after he drank his friend’s weird drink. I am the guy who you have Izumi with. Not the guy who made you crying everytime you remember him. Can you promise that?”

She nodded. “Promise.”

“That’s my wife,” he smiled. “Can I lie on your lap, Haruka?”

“Eh? Sure..” she sat up before making him lay on her lap.

“The best pillow ever,” he muttered in satisfaction, enough to make his wife blushed.

But what happened next was downright scary.

He stared at her intently before caressing her face.

“What’s wrong?”

 “I love you, Ichinose Haruka,” his voice suddenly turned weak.

Tokiya’s eyes slowly felt heavy. The beautiful face that he admired so much turned blurry.  

Ah, I think it’s the time...

“Tokiya-kun?”

Please don’t leave me.

“I love you so much. Please forgive me for not being able to celebrate your birthday properly, dear.”

Please...

His hand, his arm which had pampered her with countless warm and loving touches suddenly dropped to his side but she quickly caught it in horror.

“Tokiya-kun, please don’t leave yet.. please open your eyes..” she pleaded as she placed his hand back against her cheek to encourage him to open his eyes but...

There was no responses from him. His eyes remained shut.   

She was so afraid as she pressed his wrist, checking his pulse.

Nothing. She could feel nothing.

So, with much difficulties, she had to accept the truth.

His breath left him forever. Her beloved husband just left her... again.

She glanced at the alarm clock next to their bed. It was 10.47 p.m.

That was the actual time when the late Tokiya left her.

While controlling her tears from streaming down her cheeks, she leaned down and kissed every single inch of his face dearly.

“I love you too, Tokiya-kun. Thank you for all the love and sweet memories you gave me,” as she pulled away, she embraced his body, relishing his presence and warmth for the last time.

* * *

 

**Syo** clenched his fist tightly. Masato, Ren and Natsuki who sat on the same sofa sank in their own thoughts while Cecil and Otoya just stared blankly at the window. Tomochika, Megumi and Yachiyo sat nearby, feeling their hearts pondered strongly.

On the spur of the moment, weak foot steps approached the group, sending them in speechlessness when their eyes met the sad golden one. 

“Haruka...” Tomochika quickly approached her spaced out best friend, followed by Yachiyo.

“Tomo-chan, _obachan_..” She stared blankly at the said women before switching her attention to STARISH members. _“Minna-san...”_

“Haruka..” Cecil looked at her, indirectly asking her about Tokiya.

“He said he loves me..” She stated something so obvious but all of them did not need to be a genius to guess what she was trying to tell them. “My husband said that he loves me so much.”

“Haruka..” Tomochika embraced her trembling shoulders.

“I love him too. I love him so much but I couldn’t tell him because he already left me..”

With those words, her already feeble legs gave up. She collapsed on the floor, sending the others gasped in devastation. Yachiyo pulled Haruka into a hug while STARISH members (except Cecil) and Megumi left the living room to see Tokiya.

Cecil who just stood there, staring at Haruka in sympathy.

You made her crying again, Tokiya.

In the bedroom, Masato stared at the lifeless body of his teammate in disbelief while Ren hugged Megumi, comforting the woman who just got hysterical over her son’s death.

As for Otoya, being the closest friend of Tokiya, he obviously could not bare the pain of losing him again.

“Please don’t go, Tokiya. Please don’t leave us,” the red head whispered desperately as he tightened his embrace around his best friend but of course, it fell on the deaf ears. “I still have a lot of things to do with you. Please wake up, Tokiya!”

Natsuki scooped Izumi into his arms when the child woke up because of the commotion. Compared to his daddy’s friends, the five-years-old kid learned the bitter truth earlier so he looked more collected to accept that his daddy would no longer there beside him. Instead, he innocently told Natsuki,

“So daddy finally went to heaven... I am happy.”

It took all for Natsuki to not let his emotion got the best of him.

Deep inside of Natsuki’s body, there was another soul who cried because of Tokiya.

Another soul who used to vow to kill Ichinose Tokiya at any cost.

I don’t want to believe that you still left us, Tokiya..

Meanwhile for Syo who cried outside of the house...

_“Yuma-san and I had a talk for quite some time. I told her that just like her, I am also dying. So, we hope that when we are no longer beside you and Haruka, you will take care of Haruka like her friend, brother or anything you can be for her.”_

 

 


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath...

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA and Silvermoon249 (for Nanairo no Compass lyrics)

**A** year later...

They were currently attending an award ceremony for the best and prolific international superstars. Being the representative of Japan, STARISH started to feel less confident, seeing the other candidates were also top-notch and much more popular. Even their popularity alone as the opening artist for Triple S in Japan had skyrocketed which led them to star in a lot of group and individual projects later, they still felt pessimistic about the idea of winning the award.

Especially when Tokiya was no longer with them.

But nothing could beat Haruka’s nervousness. Her hands were obviously trembling, much to her friends’ worry. 

“Please.. let it be STARISH..” she whispered to herself.

“Haruka, just relax okay? I am positive that the guys will be the winner,” Nozomi who just sat next to her squeezed her hand, attempting to comfort her.

“But, Nozomi-chan...”

“It’s okay. If they don’t win, in our hearts, they are still the best stars,” Tomochika ensured her. Apparently, cheesy lines with a compliment about STARISH being the best stars is the best way to make Haruka less neurotic.  

Haruka glanced at both of her sides. Nozomi, Shizuka, Tomochika, Sara (Cecil’s wife) and Maaya gave her comforting looks even they were also jittery like her.

“Yeah, I guess you guys are right.”

As the emcee cleared his throat to announce the winner, everybody started to freeze on their seats.

“The Best International Superstar award goes to....”

Being cliched, the emcee would pause which seemed like countless hours for the audience before dramatically announcing;

“STAAAARISHHH!”

“Ehhhh!!?” Haruka could not contain her shock. It seemed like _Kami-sama_ granted her prayer.

“Haruka, they won!” Tomochika hugged her tightly. “Hey, don’t cry! You are supposed to be happy for them.”

“Yeah, Haru-chan! Tomo-chan is right!” the other girls also could not hide their thrilled and proud smiles.

Despite their words, Haruka still burst into tears because obviously, this precious moment reminded her of Tokiya, the most important person who absolutely could not miss such an important event.

Yet, his destiny said otherwise.

Tokiya-kun, STARISH won it.

She knew, somewhere, he was smiling proudly at his teammates.

Meanwhile for STARISH...

Instead of giving typical reactions like being shocked for a few seconds before happily walking to the stage to receive the trophy, all six of them just looked at each other blankly.

That was what other people perceived them yet in fact...

Like Haruka, there was only one person which they could not abandon from their minds.

Tokiya/Icchi/Tokiya-kun/Ichinose, finally, your wish came true. If only you are here....

Ren who was the first one to be dragged to the reality led the way before the others followed him. Around them, applauses resonated through the whole hall while their fans, way back to the hall, cheered enthusiastically while screaming their group name.

When all of them finally reached the stage, Otoya was the one who received the award. As the gold trophy touched his skin, his tears started flowing down. He did not ask for it but all the sweet memories he had created with his late roommate, Ichinose Tokiya attacked his mind like a video.

“Please give us some speech, STARISH.”

All of them stared at Otoya, sending the red head to give a questioning look.

“Me?”

“Just go, Otoya. You are his best friend so you are the right person,” Cecil muttered.

“But, I am crying, you guys! It’s embarrassing..”

“It’s okay. It will sound more sincere and meaningful,” as Masato answered, Otoya coud see how the others also had tears in his eyes including Masato and Ren who were usually more collected.

He reluctantly approached the mic, receiving a loud cheer from the audience. He gave a bright smile, totally grateful for their support.

“Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for the award. We... honestly, first and foremost, we would like to apologize sincerely for making you guys waited. I mean... we took too much time to accept the trophy because we did not expect that we would be the winner. However, still, we would like to dedicate our appreciation to Shining Saotome-san, our president because without him, being the greatest supporter of STARISH, willing to do anything so that we would spread and share our music to as many people as possible, it is unattainable for us to achieve this award tonight.”

“Next, our thanks goes to Ichinose Haruka-san, our composer and best friend since we were trainees in Saotome Academy. She is the founder of STARISH and indeed, her idea that all of us should sing together is the best thing ever ... Again, thank you so much, Ichinose Haruka-san. And to the fans, parents and family who came all the way including Aijima Cecil’s family from Agnapolis, thank you for your endless support.”

“And last but not least...” Otoya felt his eyes started to generate more tears as the image of certain blue head distracted his mind but he was determined to continue. “We wanted to dedicate this award to Ichinose Tokiya, our late teammate and the T of STARISH who left us unexpectedly last year.”

And in the blink of an eye, the whole hall turned downright silent as they also could feel the pain that STARISH members had to swallow.

“It took us all when we learned the truth. Just like how STARISH lost its T, we also feel something’s not good when he’s not around. If he is still here, we would certainly push him to give the speech. To tell you the truth, we don’t have an official leader but for some reasons, we respect him like our leader. Tokiya is the one who set the objective, what we would achieve as a group. His determination lifted up our enthusiasm to strive more and here we are, we achieved this award together with his soul. So, Tokiya, this is for you! Thank you for striving with us!” With the last sentence as Otoya raised up the trophy, a round and big applause was heard again yet this time, it sounded livelier.

Thanks to everyone’s support, they grew much stronger without Tokiya.

* * *

 

**“Kampai!!”**

 There were only STARISH members, hanging out after a late night party with Shining Agency members.

“Wow, I can’t believe that we actually won,” Otoya commented enthusiastically.

“Our life as the winner of the award would be busier after this,” Masato sighed in happiness.

 “You are right, Hijirikawa. Can you guys imagine what kind of job that each of us will be offered after this?” Ren asked before taking a sip of wine.

“Natsuki would be the spokeperson of children products or the host of a show for kids,” Syo suggested. 

“That sounds fun! For Syo-chan, he obviously will be casted as an actor for action-packed movies in Hollywood,” Natsuki continued.

“Nah, Shinomi. Considering the majority of the casts over there are quite big, I bet _Ochibi-chan_ will get enough screen time or even can show up on camera properly. Instead, he will be mistook for a toddler and casted as the male lead’s son instead.”

“Shut up, Ren!”

“I just said the truth, right, _minnasan_? Even Icchi will have fun teasing _Ochibi-chan_ if he is here.”

“Yes. What is it, again, _minnasan?_ His notorious line..let’s say it together..” they suddenly turned to Syo with a contemptuous look that the small guy hated the most upon hearing Otoya’s cue. “I guess puberty doesn’t favor you that much, unlike the rest of us.”

“I said shut up, you dorks!” Syo screamed like a boiling kettle but it just made him looked three times cuter.

“Well, Ren sure will be a good male lead, considering he is so handsome, have a supermodel body type and alluring smile. I bet he and Tokiya will make a good debut in Hollywood, representing Asia or something,” Otoya suggested.

“Yeah. After all, Icchi and me used to be the Sexiest Prince in our school and a lot of famous magazines,” Ren smirked.

“Or rather, it was supposed to be only Ichinose but they were afraid that it might hurt your pride as someone who suffers from a prince disease so they decided to choose you as well,” Masato commented in irritation, gaining himself laughter from the rest of his teammates.

“And you, Hijirikawa, you will receive tons of jobs as samurai, ninja or something along the line but you will still be stucked when you have to hug a woman,” Ren smiled deviously at Masato who typically shot a glare back at him.

“Ah, hope Masato will do just fine. Don’t want to make Tokiya disappointed with you after he tried so hard to play a role as a wimpish maiden just for his twin,” Cecil brought up the disturbing but funny memory just for the sake of teasing Masato.

“Don’t remind me about that, Aijima,” Masato warned in horror but the aura around him still looked comical. “How about you? I bet you will act as Aladdin for the rest of your life.”

“The 1000th person who called me Aladdin..” Cecil sighed in annoyance. “Even I myself can find the resemblance somehow.”

“I hope Cecil-kun will not victimize a second person until he hates cats like Tokiya-kun. It was funny and lovable to see Tokiya-kun would get all frantic everytime he saw a cat nearby,” Natsuki chuckled when he recalled about every single memory of Tokiya’s scaredy-cat-saga when he bumped into cats.

“Much to his dismay, Izumi-chan also loves cats. Well, as expected from mini Tokiya, right?” Otoya also chuckled as he thought about Izumi.

“I think Ikki and Izumi-chan will make a good combination, you know. Considering Ikki gets along with children well and Izumi-chan is famous for being cute and innocent, I am not surprised if there are such jobs for them,” Ren added.

Who knows that every single future job that they predicted for each one of them came true?

“Woww, that’s amazing, Ren! It would be fun if I can work with Izumi. Basically, if I work with mini Tokiya, it just feels like Tokiya is still around, right?”

As they heard Otoya’s honest and innocent remark, the aura in the room suddenly turned in despair.

 _It just feels that Tokiya is still around._ Yeah, that makes sense.

“ _Minnasan,_ if Tokiya is still here, what kind of job will Tokiya get?” Cecil was not sure why he was asking this in the first place. 

“Since he is charming and versatile, I think Tokiya will get a lot of works for singing and acting. Tons of international magazines love him since he is photogenic,” Syo tried to make it sound casual but his slightly trembling voice said otherwise.

There it was. A pregnant silence as their mind imagined how it would feel if Tokiya was still with them, striving for STARISH.

They insanely missed him.

“I really wish Tokiya-kun will be here with us, to stand on the same stage with us again..” Natsuki’s bubbly and ecstatic voice was no longer to be heard. Instead, he clutched his chest as he felt a sharp sorrow crawled into his veins.

“Me too,” Masato and Otoya mumbled, almost in unison.

“You guys know what? I thought that Tokiya would end up like what movies always show us. If we change something in the past, the person that we want to save will not die. But I guess I am completely wrong. No matter how hard we try, we cannot save Tokiya. Well, I am not a God anyway. There is no way I can change his destiny,” Cecil commented.

Masato, Ren and Natsuki looked gloomier. The wine and some foods on the table no longer atrracted their attention. Until now, they had a hard time to digest that they lost the same person twice.

Syo and Cecil could not hold their tears any longer. They bowed as tears dropped down to their chins.

And so did Otoya. He could not believe that once again, after his parents and aunt, he lost someone who is so precious in his life.

Hope you are good, Tokiya.

* * *

 

 ** _“Ne,_** Aijima-san..”

“What?” Cecil glowered at the blue head who distracted him from completing his task or to be exact, his nth punishment for fighting with Tokiya.. yet again.

They had to write eight pages of apology as assigned by Hyuga.

“About the spell.. I mean.. if you don’t change anything from now on, the destiny will stay the same right?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Then, if you do change anything from now on, the destiny will be changed, right?”

“Obviously, Tokiya,” Cecil groaned in irritation, especially when the fact that he needed to be detained in the same room with Tokiya was stuck in his mind. “You are not going to write the essay? It’s rare for you, Tokiya, out of all people to procrastinate...”

Cecil’s words were cut by the face expression of Tokiya.

It was mixed with the feelings of happiness and sorrow.

“Tokiya..”

“Hm?”

“You are spaced out. Is there anything I can help you?”

“Aijima-san...” the cobalt blue orbs suddenly looked shining and it made Cecil flinched. “You are so sweet. You want to help someone who used to punch you because of a _bento.”_

“You better tell me what’s your concern before I change my mind, you doofus!” Cecil indirectly told the blue head to stop being dramatic when he was apparently being serious.

“Okay,” Tokiya’s cheeky face suddenly looked concerned but it still showed how much he felt thankful to Cecil. “Actually, I was thinking, is it okay for me to...”

“Hm?”

“Haruka told me tha she used to be pregnant but she missed the chance to tell Toki... I mean the future me, right?”

“Y..yes..” it made Cecil’s heart sank yet at the same time, he could grasp what Tokiya tried to say. “Why?”

“I.. I was wondering if you can make her pregnant again..”

It was a downright silence.

“I can make your child alive again in her tummy by making your child live earlier so that he will live longer but it costs you two years from your lifespan since you made the request.”

A ridiculously calm smile appeared on the fair-skinned face which made Cecil slightly irritated.

 “Saw that coming. Logically, for things like this, it will seek a great sacrifice, right?”

“Then, if you can guess it, why on earth do you ask me for something like that!?” Cecil suddenly got cross. “Are you out of mind, Tokiya? We, especially Haruka came here for you. For you to stay beside her longer than you should and now, you asked me to shorten your life span? What the...”

“You made it sounded like I want to commit a suicide, Aijima-san,” Tokiya chuckled. “Well, how should I put it..”

“Put it nicely or I will not help you, Tokiya,” Cecil already crossed his arms, seeking for the world most reasonable explaination from the vocalist. 

Tokiya cleared his throat. To give the reason why he decided to sacrifice his life for the child meant he had to relate it to his past which was the most terrible thing that he wanted to forget but he had no choices. He had to convince Cecil to help him.

“Since I was a child, I don’t really know what it feels when you have your parents around. Sure, my mum raised me but she made me looking at her as my master and I need to be successful in my life. The only thing that made me still loved her is the fact that she is the one who gave birth to me but other than that, I have no sweet memories with her. At that time, I really want to see my father but my mother never allowed me to do so. It was a torture for me.”

Cecil’s crossed arms slowly dropped by his sides.

“When Haruka and I were expelled temporarily, I took care of her and that’s when something crossed my mind. It will be better if the baby is still alive. At least Haruka will not suffer more. I really want to see her being the mother of my child because I love her, Aijima-san. I feel that I can understand what the late Tokiya felt when he saved Haruka from the man who tried to harm her. Haruka gives me more reasons to live my life and who knows, what might happen to me if I never crossed her path. And now, when I learned that I have a child, I want to get a chance to raise him by my own two hands even just for a few years.”

Cecil did not give a quick response. Instead, he still considered before coming up with a decision.

“Please, Aijima-san. Please make my child alive again... I want to hold him..”

Cecil exhaled a heavy sigh but it apparently suggested that he would grant the blue head’s wish.

“For someone who can be immature to the point of punching his friend just because of a _bento_ , you sure can make me cry with your fatherly speech when you aren’t even one.”

Tokiya let out a chuckle.

“It’s called an instinct, you Kuppuru boy. Every normal human being in this world have unconditional love when it comes to their children.”

“Tsk, you consider yourself as normal? You, Tokiya? Just so you know, a normal human being never punch his friend just because of a _bento_.”

“And a normal human being will not just steal others’ food like some barbarians.”

They stared into each other’s eyes with imaginary lightning, shooting to each other before..

“Oi, _omaera!!_ ” Hyuga sensei’s shout made them dropped from their chair. “You guys still want to fight even when you are in detention? Write another eight pages of apology or you will be stuck here until next week!”

“Ehhhh!!??”

* * *

 

 **“Mummy,** look at me! Do I look like daddy?”

Cecil was suddenly dragged to the reality from being spaced out about Tokiya before turning his attention to the source of voice. All of the souls in Haruka’s house including Cecil gasped in shock. Where the hell did this 15 years old Izumi get the smaller version of Tokiya’s Maji Love Revolution costume?

“Masato _ojichan_ sew this clothes for me,” Izumi pointed his finger straight to Masato, received an ‘ooo’ exclaimation from the others.

 “Tokiya-kun’s genes are quite strong, right? I mean... Izumi-chan looks 100 percents like him,” Natsuki commented in awe.

“Why are you guys looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with my face?” Izumi rubbed his face in puzzlement.

“Nothing, son. It’s just that... You look so much like your daddy. But, yeah.. you are much cuter,” Ren commented, comparing Tokiya with Izumi while his big and rough hand stroked the blue hair.

“Is that so, Ren _ojichan_? That’s good to hear,” Izumi blushed at the compliment. You do not need to be a genius to guess how happy the boy was when he was compared with his father, as well as his idol. 

“Look at that! Tokiya _ojichan_ looks same with Izumi _onichan_!” Natsuki’s son, Naoki exclaimed while jumping excitedly as he found a big picture of STARISH on stage after performing at Triple S decisive concert on the wall.

In unison, the other children gathered in front of the picture. All eyes were glued to Tokiya, who smiled handsomely while being hugged by Otoya.

“Waaaaa, so handsome!” All of them exclaimed in unison, caused a laugh resonated in the living room.

 “Tokiya _ojichan_ is so cool..” Ren’s daughter, Rena stared at late Tokiya with dreamy eyes.

“He looks cool like our daddy right, Mika? But he doesn’t have a weird mushroom head like daddy,” Masato’s son, Makoto shared his terribly honest opinion with his sister, Mika, much to Masato’s irritation.

But no matter how you look at it, nothing could beat the sharp opinion from Syo’s twins or to be more exact, his children with the late Risa.

“I thought that Tokiya _ojichan_ will be short as well but.. it seems like he is also taller than daddy. He is even taller than Otoya _ojichan_ ,” with a dramatic voice, Tatsumi expressed his sympathy for his daddy’s tragic height, followed by Yuri’s nod while wiping her imaginary tears.

“I promise I will marry a tall man so that my son will not suffer like daddy and Tatsumi _oni-chan_.”

“Oi, _omaera_! How dare you talked bad about me!?” God knows how irritating for Syo to have children who could talk fluently at such young age but they used it to tease their father.

“Daddy, if you marry Haruka _obachan_ , our next sibling probably will be tall like Izumi _oni-chan_ ,” Yuri suddenly demanded.

“What kind of logic is that, _omaira_!? Stop joking around!” Syo threw a fit, sending them to laugh at his comical reaction even he is a father of two growing up twins.

Meanwhile for Haruka who was supposed to be the birthday girl for the gathering, she could not help but staring at Izumi with mixed feelings.

I miss you, Tokiya-kun, she smiled softly as she held the beautiful heart-shaped necklace around her neck. Tonight, along with a cream dressm she wore the set of silver jewellery which is the last birthday present from Tokiya.

_I miss you too._

“Eh?” Haruka looked around. She was sure she heard a familiar and sweet voice hit her ears.

“Haruka..” Yachiyo who just came back from the kitchen grabbed her grandaughter’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I.. I am fine. It’s just that... I was thinking... God is really amazing, _obachan._ He took away Tokiya-kun from me but he gave Izumi to me. Tokiya-kun must be proud of his son.”

“Sure he is.” 

“Okay, guys. It’s time for the birthday girl!” Tomochika who was busy chatting with the other wives and Megumi suddenly stood and announced.

They gathered around the cake, singing a Happy Birthday song to their beloved composer. Applause was everywhere as she blew the candles.

“Thank you so much, _minnasan_.”

“Nanami, as the representative of STARISH, I would like to say... we wish you to get to smile everyday. Thanks for being a good composer and best friend of STARISH all this time. Please keep writing a good music for us, for everyone,” Otoya remarked, gaining himself another a round of applause. 

“Thank you _minnasan_. I will.”

“Izumi-chan,” Tomochika suddenly gave Izumi a suggestive smile.

 _“Hai!”_ Izumi left his friends before getting himself into his bedroom. A few seconds passed before he took out a black camera.

“Mummy, are you ready for the wish from daddy?” Izumi grinned with high expectation.

Haruka nodded softly. Of course that was the thing that she waited the most everytime she celebrated her birthday.

It was a recording from Tokiya and Izumi when the child was still five years old. Tokiya had Izumi recorded his birthday wishes to Haruka for upcoming years.

Haruka could not ask for a better husband. Even he left her since ten years ago, his unconditional love made him seemed still alive in her eyes.  

Izumi pressed the ‘play’ button while the others formed a circle around him, paying their attention to the video.

“Haruka, _tanjoubi omedettou!_ ”A string of warm smiles written over their faces as soon as Tokiya showed up. “For this birthday, you are... 36 right? You are getting old but it’s okay. I bet you are still beautiful as the first time I know you.”

“And now... here is my gift, special for you.. Izumi, give me the camera. Let’s sing here with daddy,”

“Okay!” Izumi handed the object before taking place next to Tokiya.

 “Okay. Are you ready, dear? One..two..three..”

His gift to her for this year is Nanairo no Compass.

_Ah… kimi dake ni todoke  
kono kaze no oto yo…_

_Feeling Heart…_

_mou nakanakute ii yo sono mama de ii_  
sora o mite _Ah… My Sweetest Love  
Blue… aoku kagayaku_ _hoo o tsutau sono shizuku_

 (Izumi: Daddy, Blue is _‘ao’_ , right?.   Tokiya: Yes). _  
Rise… shitte ita kai?_ _asu e no hikari da to_

(Izumi: Daddy, why are we singing about ‘rice’? Are you hungry?   Tokiya: No, dear. We are not singing about _‘gohan’_ ).

The others laughed at Izumi’s random question, sending the said boy blushed. Well, it was normal for a child like him to be unable to read the atmosphere.

 _Truth… kimi wa tabun ne_ _jibun o mada yoku shiranai_  
sono namida wa kitto _kimi o michibiku niji ni naru_  
_nagai tabi ni kogoeru nara_  
_Ah… uta de atatamete ageru yo_  
_kimi ga negau koto no zenbu ga hoshi ni naranai kamoshirenai_  
_dakedo shinjiru yume de areba_  
_ikusen aru “yozora no ichiban kirameku hazu no houseki” sa_

Their voices blended so well together.

Haruka’s eyes started to glisten with tears. Yes, she cried again but it did not mean she still could not accept her destiny. In fact, with the endless support from others, she managed to gather up her moxie to compose more beautiful songs just like what Tokiya suggested. She never mourned for her past, for her husband’s death. Instead, she was grateful because she was given the second chance to start over with her late husband, to relish her Crystal Time with Tokiya...

If  there was anything that made her still tied to her past was the fact that she never stopped loving Tokiya. Her love to him grew stronger and she was happy to feel the love.

Meeting him, every single moment with him is the Crystal Time in her life.

 “Good job, Izumi!” Tokiya gave a thumbs up to the confused and disheartened Izumi.

“But daddy is too good,” he pouted. “Daddy’s voice is so good. Izumi is bad.”

“Hey, it’s okay. When you grow up, your voice will be like mine,” he embraced Izumi’s shoulder, convinced him.

“And the words are so hard. I don’t understand what I sing,” Izumi pouted again, much to the others’ amusement. “What is ‘my sweetest’, daddy?”

“Owhh.. do you mean ‘My Sweetest Love’?” Tokiya turned to gaze at the screen, right into Haruka’s eyes. “Over there. My Sweetest Love is your mummy, Ichinose Haruka.”

His casual answer just made the others grinned.

“So, how was it, honey? Do you like it? It’s the first song that brought you to meet me when you were sick, right? Just like before, I really wish that my gift to you will cheer you up and give you strength. I love you and see you on the next birthday, Haruka. Bye, bye! Izumi, say goodbye to mummy.”

“Goodbye, mummy! See you on your next birthday!” Just like Tokiya, Izumi waved his tiny hands cheerfully.

Izumi pressed the ‘off’ button, still grinning sincerely at his mother.

“How was it, mummy? Do you love your present?”

Haruka’s emotion got the best of her as she embraced Izumi.

To say that she loves the present was totally an understatement.

 Her husband left her on her birthday so he would ensure that Haruka would accept his present on her every birthday.

“Thank you so much, Izumi. The best birthday present as always,” she muttered softly.

Other women shed their tears, feeling touched with the drama in front of them.

You raised you son well, Ichinose, Masato thought as his eyes never left Izumi.

It’s like.. you know you will get youself a very good child, Tokiya. Your decision from a long time ago... there is no way you will regret it, Cecil smiled warmly, admired how his late friend and teammate expressed his love to his wife even he was no longer here beside Haruka.

I love you, Tokiya-kun. Thanks for the wonderful gift.

_You’re welcome, Haruka. And just remember.. I will always love you too even we no longer can see each other._

 

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeayyyy, it’s finally complete!! I want to thank you guys for the Kudos, comments and the bookmark thingy. They encouraged me to write this first fanfiction of mine. Previously, I was a reader who looked for Utapri fanfiction with a good plot. I found them which are ‘Futari no Himitsu’, ‘The Switch”, ‘The Switch 2’, ‘A Date With Haruka Week’ and ‘Distant Field’. Those stories are from two Utapri fanfiction authors that I admire so much because they know how to utilize STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT’s various personality as something entertaining in their stories. Their funny and excellent stories inspired me to produce something like that on my own even I don’t think I am a good writer like them. Nevertheless, please let me know what do you think about this chapter or the whole story, okay? Sayonaraaaa!!


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